


In Sheep's Clothing

by Miss Kitty DeMarco (ParisWriter)



Series: Bokumono Universe [2]
Category: Harvest Moon, 牧場物語つながる新天地 | Story of Seasons
Genre: Character Death, Dirty Talk, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Oral Sex, Sexual Tension, Suggestive Themes, Swearing, Threats of Violence, Vaginal Fingering, Wordcount: Over 100.000
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-04-01 13:20:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 128,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4021351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParisWriter/pseuds/Miss%20Kitty%20DeMarco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Story of Seasons: Klaus wanted her. He knew it was wrong. She was too young, too innocent. She belonged with someone else, he told himself. What he didn't know was that she wanted him, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Annie/Minori is known as Avery in this story. It's the same player character, I simply chose to rename her because the default name didn't really appeal to me.
> 
> I'll also admit upfront that I tweaked Raeger's personality a little. After reading about his later flower events, I decided I like the idea of him actually being a ladies' man rather than people just thinking of him as one. The change has a purpose to the story, as you'll later see.

**Prologue  
**

Klaus watched her dealings with the merchant from Silk Country, a smile lighting up her youthful face as she gave the other woman a basket piled high with fresh vegetables she had grown on her farm. Asche inspected the merchandise and nodded appreciatively, then handed over a pouch of coins in return as payment for the goods. She then thanked the merchant with a polite bow and returned to where she had tethered her horse, offering him a treat to busy him while she untied his reins from the post. With that done, she mounted her steed and took off at a slow trot off through town – and likely back to her farm.

It was a rather mundane scene, one that no one would really take any notice of. Farmers were always bringing their goods to the square to sell to the traders who came to visit Oak Tree Town, after all. To Klaus, however, it was more than an everyday occurrence. It was an opportunity for him to get to see the young woman who had taken over the farm next door to old Madam Eda's.

He had first met her about a week following her arrival, during one of his trips into the mountains to search for ingredients he could use in his perfumes. She had wanted to go into town and get acquainted with the villagers, but had managed to get herself hopelessly lost. He'd gently scolded her before offering to escort her wherever she wished to go, and the way she looked in that moment had been his undoing. Her brown eyes had been cast downward, her long lashes resting against the pale skin of her cheeks as they rapidly took on a pinker hue. The worst part was when she'd drawn her bottom lip between her teeth. It was an unconscious, nervous gesture, but it had served to draw his gaze to her mouth. Her lips weren't overly full, but they were plump enough to be described as kissable, and they were stained the color of ripe raspberries. He'd caught himself wondering if they tasted like raspberries, as well, then he reminded himself he had only just met her and didn't even know her name.

Avery, she'd said when he asked. Her name was Avery. He'd introduced himself, as well, and explained to her his work and why he had been wandering along the mountain paths so far from town. The two of them chatted amiably during their walk to town, and he'd learned that she decided to move to the country in order to get away from the noise and hectic pace of the city. It was a sentiment he fully understood, as that had been one of his own motivations for returning to Oak Tree Town in his late twenties. He still had several clients who lived in the city, though, and so he made trips there a couple of times a week to take orders and deliver the perfumes he had created.

They parted ways outside the general store, but not before he had offered to create some perfume for her as a gift to welcome her properly to town. Then, impulsively, he'd raised her hand to his lips and graced the backs of her fingers with a gentle kiss. He told himself he'd done it because it was the polite, gentlemanly thing to do. Really, though, he'd done it to see her blush again. Her lips had turned upward into a shy smile, and the very sight made his blood heat up.

He knew it was wrong, what he was feeling. He'd put the days of his lust-filled youth behind him. He was older now, more mature, but something about her drew his attention like the proverbial moth to a flame. Her sweetness, her kindness, her innocence, her youth... they combined into a quality that made her infuriatingly tempting.

Somehow, he just knew this young woman would be his downfall.

 

* * *

 

Avery had felt Klaus' eyes upon her at the market. She had even looked his way once or twice, only to catch him immediately averting his gaze. He seemed almost guilty, like he believed he shouldn't have been watching her. In truth, she liked being watched by him.

Ever since their first meeting on the mountain trail near her farm, she had been fascinated by him. He was so unlike the other eligible bachelors in town – older, more sophisticated – and it had immediately sparked her attraction. He wasn't all that hard on the eyes, either, with his dark hair and unusual golden-green eyes. He was charming, well-dressed, mature, intelligent... all of the things the boys in the city hadn't been.

Madam Eda had tried nudging her toward Fritz, another new farmer in Oak Tree Town who was about her age, but while he was nice enough Avery had no interest in him beyond friendship. He was too needy and whined too much. He'd even had the nerve to accuse her of attempting to steal his farming techniques when she paid him a visit on his farm, then more or less tricked her into watering all of his fields for him under the guise of training her. It had infuriated her and she wanted to smack him hard enough that he would have a black eye to match the bandages he always seemed to be wearing upon his left cheek.

Shortly after her arrival in town, she'd met Mistel. She'd originally mistaken him for a girl when she first saw him, due to his smaller size and delicate features. The shock of learning he wasn't actually female was nothing compared to the one she felt the first time she heard the deep, masculine voice of the town doctor, but it had still surprised her to learn that he was - in fact - a he. Mistel was a kind young man, almost to the point of being annoying, and he seemed to be overly attached to his older sister – who Avery had soon discovered was a well-renowned writer of romance novels. Both of those qualities were enough to make her cross him off the list of potential matches.

The only other young man she'd met in town was Raeger, the owner and chef of the local restaurant. He was nice enough, and a damn good cook, but he was good-looking and he knew it. He flirted with every female who walked in the door of his establishment, and while she shamelessly flirted back whenever his attentions turned upon her they both knew it was just harmless fun and nothing would come of it. He was a ladies' man who enjoyed his freedom, while she wanted something more. They had become close over the course of the single season she'd been living in Oak Tree Town, however, due to the chats they had while she enjoyed her lunches at his counter every day he was open for business. Of all the residents in town, Avery considered him her best friend.

Then there was Klaus...

Everything about the man threw her senses into overdrive. His eyes held her gaze whenever they met – until he inevitably broke the contact. His voice was smooth and deep and had the slightest hint of an accent, a lazy little drawl likely earned from having grown up in the area but largely lost due to the many years he lived in the city. His hair was slightly tousled and looked soft enough to touch, and she often found herself wishing she could just reach out and run her fingers through the raven-colored tresses without any repercussions. He even had a unique scent about him, likely due to the hours he spent working on creating fragrances for his many customers. It was spicy and floral at the same time, with the slightest hint of citrus.

Even in spite of the short time which had passed since their first meeting, Avery instinctively knew... This was the man she was meant to be with.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Avery frowned at the nearly-empty basket hanging from her arm, displeased at the flowers which remained within. She had only just heard of the so-called Flower Fair a couple of weeks ago from Giorgio, and really hadn't had the time to prepare. Honestly, she wasn't sure why it was called a "fair," in the first place. There were no rides, no games... people didn't even gather at the trade depot like they usually did for other fesitvals held by the town. Instead, the purpose of the day was to go from door to door and hand out flowers to your neighbors as a sign of friendship and good will. Any flowers would do, she was told, but those grown by your own hands were said to hold more positive feelings than those simply found out in nature.

Fortune had favored her with a couple of packets of old flower seeds in the tool chest within her run-down shack, and she'd hastily planted them and tended to them every day with water and fertilizer. She wasn't sure they would be ready in time, but they were – for what they were even worth. Most of what had successfully sprouted were simple daisies, and even with the amount of care she had bestowed upon them they hadn't grown to their full size. Still, those she had given them to seemed to appreciate that she took the time to grow the flowers, herself.

Madam Eda had been the first daisy recipient. Avery felt it was only fitting the kind old lady should get one of her home-grown flowers since she had so kindly helped her out in getting started with her new life on the farm. Not only had she been trained for a week by the veteran farmer, but after she moved into her permanent residence, Eda had gifted her with the very cow she had learned how to milk. Eda loved the flower, and even put it in a fancy blue vase. She'd offered to make the younger woman some tea, but Avery had to politely decline – the rest of the flowers wouldn't deliver themselves, after all.

Giorgio and Fritz each received one of her daisies, as well. They were both her rivals, but she respected them each in their own ways. Fritz wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, but he always tried his hardest and put his all into everything he did. As much as he got on her nerves sometimes, Avery couldn't help but admire that ever-positive attitude of his. Giorgio was a bit flamboyant and put too much emphasis on superficial things for her liking, but that very quirk meant he had a keen eye for detail and could tell which crops were the best based on sight alone. Avery knew that he was restraining himself from critiquing her skills as a cultivator of flowers when she gave him his daisy, but he smiled and thanked her politely.

Elise was the only one of her fellow farmers Avery did not give a daisy to. The wealthy little miss was a farmer in name only, as Avery had learned she had servants who cultivated her land and tended to her animals for her. She got one of the bright blue flowers Avery had collected in the mountains the previous morning, while her two maids – who had always been sweet to her every time she visited – were instead gifted the daisies. The maids had been all smiles upon receiving their gifts, and told Avery they had never gotten flowers before on the holiday... not even from their mistress. It made Avery even more glad she'd given Elise something she just randomly found.

The next stop was the guild hall, where she gave both Veronica and Marian a daisy. Veronica had politely accepted the offering, though she insisted that there was no need for such kindness as she had merely been doing her job in helping Avery after her arrival to town. Marian had been overjoyed and enveloped Avery in a giant bear hug as he openly wept over how happy he was that she considered him worthy of the gift. She left several additional blue flowers from the mountains with Veronica, and asked the guild master to help her out by delivering them to the other residents in her stead. She would have done so herself, but she still wasn't caught up on everyone's name, despite having lived in Oak Tree Town for a full season, and she didn't want to embarrass herself by calling someone the wrong name.

She caught Raeger just as he was opening the restaurant for the day, and even as she held out a daisy to him he held out a carnation to her. She recognized it as a flower from one of the window boxes outside the restaurant, which meant he had grown it himself. She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek to thank him for the gift, and he groped her ass in return. Avery slapped him in the chest, causing him to chuckle, and he nodded at the basket on her arm when she pulled away.

"Got one for Klaus in there?" he asked, absent-mindedly twirling his flower between his fingers.

"Maybe," Avery replied, smiling coyly as a blush started to color her cheeks.

"You better," Raeger admonished her, poking her in the nose with the head of the daisy. "And it better be the best damn one you grew."

"What do you care?"

"Uhh, let's see... Why would I care if the girl I'm friends with gives the guy she's got the hots for her flower?"

He flashed a wicked smirk at her, and the color in Avery's face increased tenfold once the double entendre of his statement hit her. She smacked him again, this time in the shoulder, and Raeger ducked to avoid any additional blows, heading up the steps to his restaurant.

"Come by later and tell me how it went," he requested before heading inside to prepare for his regulars. Avery continued to gape after him even after the door had closed behind him. She'd confessed her crush on Klaus to him less than a week ago over drinks after he'd closed up for the night, and apparently she'd also admitted to much more that she couldn't remember telling him about.

Klaus' home was to be her final stop on her flower delivery tour. First, however, she needed to stop by the trade depot to deliver two more flowers: one to Jonas and one to Asche. Jonas blushed upon receiving his and told her he hadn't gotten flowers from anyone since he was a young man, save for his wife. Asche had seemed confused upon receiving hers. At first, she tried to pay Avery, thinking the daisy was meant for shipment. After the situation was explained to her, she bowed deeply and thanked her best customer for the kind gesture, then insisted that she would bring a gift in return the next time she visited the town. Avery tried to turn down the offer, but Asche was insistent. It was against the customs of her people to accept a gift without giving one in return, she said, and so Avery had dropped the argument out of respect for the trader's culture.

That left only one flower to be delivered...

Avery looked down into her seemingly empty basket and pulled aside the plain white cloth she had used to line it. Hiding beneath was a solitary pink rose.

She'd been shocked to discover the rose growing among the daises in her field. Apparently, a single seed had somehow gotten mixed in with the others in one of the packets she'd found. It was probably an error in packaging, but she'd taken it as a sign. Roses were a symbol of love, and she had grown just one.

There was only one person she could think of to give it to.

 

* * *

 

Klaus was on a roll. He had finally perfected a new fragrance he had been working on for the longest time, one which he'd feared he would never be able to finish due to a creative block. He hated to admit it, but Avery had been the reason he was finally able to finish his work. The final scent profile was based on her, after all... sweet and innocent, but also cheerful and strong. It was his latest masterpiece, and he was sure the buyers he dealt with would love it.

He had just finished placing stoppers into the test bottles when a knock sounded upon his front door. Right away, he knew it wasn't Marian. The town's doctor was an old friend of his, and as such he always chose to flamboyantly barge right in rather than knocking first. Setting the last vial into his briefcase, he stood from his work station and made his way to the door, peeking out one of the windows along the way. He was greeted by the sight of an unfamiliar woman standing on his doorstep.

When he opened the door to greet her, however, he was surprised to find a pair of familiar brown eyes gazing up at him.

"Avery?" He blinked at her appearance. She had changed her usual simple dress for a fancier one in shades of blue and white, and her golden blonde hair was no longer held back under a kerchief but instead hung long and loose, framing her heart-shaped face perfectly.

"Good morning, Klaus," she greeted him with a smile. "Mind if I come in?"

Klaus nodded and stepped aside to allow her to enter his main parlour. She quietly thanked him as she passed by, and he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. She smelled of fresh air and sunshine, and... flowers? He'd never noticed any sort of flowery scent upon her before, and he eyed her curiously as she went to his dining table and set down the basket she had been carrying upon it. Had she worn perfume just for him? She had dressed up, so he assumed it wasn't outside the realm of possibility, but his suspicions were dashed when she lifted a single pink rose from the basket and held it out to him.

"This is for you," she told him, the color of her cheeks a shade or two darker than the flower in her hands.

Klaus tilted his head to the side and wondered why she was presenting him a flower in such a formal manner. Then he remembered – it was the day of the Flower Fair. He'd stopped celebrating the event years ago, but apparently one of the others in town had informed her of its existence. A small smile tugged at his lips and he closed the front door to his home before crossing the room to where she was. He took the flower from her and looked it over, then raised it to his nose and inhaled the sweet scent. It was very faint, but still there.

"I know it's not as impressive as the ones Giorgio grows, but I wanted you to have it," she told him, and he watched as she began worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. He tightened his grip on the rose to keep from taking her hand in his and pulling her to him so he could kiss her, the sharp thorns pricking his skin and reminding him that he needed to stay in control of his urges, lest one of them ended up getting hurt.

"Thank you," he said, placing the rose upon the table and reaching for her hand. The rational part of his brain screamed at him not to do anything stupid, and he chose to ignore it – at least in part. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, his eyes transfixed upon her sweet, blushing face. Avery finally looked at him properly after he lingered a bit too long with her hand raised, and her gaze broke his reverie. He immediately let go of her hand and briskly walked into the next room, desperate to put space between them. There had been something within her eyes, something he had imagined to be a flash of desire he knew couldn't possibly be real.

"Klaus?" she called after him, her voice full of confusion and disappointment. He turned on his heel and took a step back into the room, then held up a finger to indicate he would be but a moment before returning to his work area.

"I promised you a gift, did I not?" he called out to her as he searched on his shelves for just the right fragrance to give her, reminding her of his offer from when they had first met.

"Speaking of gifts," he heard her muse, her voice slightly muffled by the wall between them. "What's with all the presents?"

He had forgotten to clean up the pile of brightly-colored packages he had piled on one end of his sofa. They'd been there for a week, and Marian had made several comments already when he stopped by in the mornings for coffee about how he should either open them or throw them out. He knew what would be in them, and it was nothing he had any interest in, but he still couldn't bring himself to merely chuck them in the trash. They were from his valued clients, after all.

"Birthday presents," he explained to Avery when he finally emerged from the other part of the house, a pale blue bottle in his hand, "from my clients. They think it's suitable to shower me with gifts of decadent treats every year despite my repeatedly telling them that I have no interest in sweets."

Avery's face was a mask of pure horror and shame, and Klaus couldn't help chuckling a bit. She immediately began apologizing, stumbling over her words as she explained that she hadn't known it was his birthday and if she had she would have gotten him a full bouquet of flowers or at least asked Giorgio for one from his garden to give him. Klaus held up a hand to silence her.

"My birthday was last week, Avery," he corrected her. "On the 24th. You had no way of knowing, so there is no need to apologize. And, for the record, I happen to like the flower you gave me."

"You do?" she asked him, her eyes going to the smallish rose lying upon the table. Klaus walked up to her and gently grasped her chin, then turned her gaze back to his.

"That flower came from your land, did it not?" he questioned, though he knew the answer. "You put your hard work into raising it. It might not be as spectacular as one grown by someone as expert at cultivating flowers as Giorgio, but one from him would mean less to me because you would not have been the one who cared for it each day before bringing it to me. Having this flower is almost like having a part of your heart that I can call my own."

She continued to gaze into his eyes for a moment longer before looking away and blushing once more, and Klaus suddenly realized what he had said to her. He felt his own cheeks starting to burn, and he cleared his throat as he held out the small blue bottle of perfume to her.

"Here. This is for you."

Avery took the bottle from him and removed the stopper, then took a tentative sniff of the concoction within the vessel. Klaus started to smile at her appreciation of his work, but the smile never fully formed as she soon started sneezing uncontrollably. He quickly grasped the perfume back from her and stoppered the bottle once more before she ended up spilling the contents all over herself, then led her to the empty part of his couch to sit and handed her his handkerchief.

"Too much chamomile?" he asked once her sneezing fit had subsided. "I did add a bit extra to that batch."

"Lavender," she told him, her voice having a more nasal quality than usual. "I'm sensitive to lavender. It makes me..." she paused and another, hard sneeze escaped, finishing her uncompleted statement for her.

"I apologize. I didn't know."

"You had no way of knowing, so there is no need to apologize," she assured him, returning his earlier sentiment regarding her ignorance of his birthday.

Klaus stood and watched her silently for a moment, his mouth set in a thoughtful frown. Most of his fragrances contained at least some small trace of lavender in them. It was a popular note among his city-dwelling clientele and so he usually made a habit of using it somehow. There was one fragrance he knew he had in stock which didn't use it, however... but it had not yet been tested. Then again, she was the perfect candidate to tell him what she thought of it.

"Wait right here," he told her, then went back to his work station once more. He removed one of the plain, unmarked test vials from his briefcase and brought it to her, removing the stopper himself as he knelt in front of her and held out the open vial for her to smell.

"No lavender in this one, I promise," he assured her. She still hesitated a moment before leaning toward him and taking a small sniff of the contents. Klaus watched her exhale with a dreamy sigh, her eyes falling closed, and she took another, deeper breath of the perfume he had been working on prior to her arrival.

"What do you think?" he asked her, watching the slow smile which spread across her lips the more she continued inhaling the fragrance.

"It's wonderful," she replied, her voice barely audible. "It smells of sweetness and sunshine, a little bit of spice and... is that raspberries?"

Klaus chuckled quietly, and she opened her eyes to look at him. He wordlessly drew the vial away from her and placed the stopper back on.

"You have quite a good nose," he complimented her. He had only added the barest hint of raspberry as an afterthought, remembering the color of her lips which enticed him every time they met. His eyes fell to those very lips once more for a brief moment before he forced himself to meet her gaze, and he held out the small vial to her.

"It's not a fancy bottle like the other one, and it's merely a prototype I've been working on, but I would like you to have this."

Avery shook her head and placed her hands upon the one offering her the vial of perfume, attempting to push it away.

"I can't, Klaus," she argued. "Not if it's a prototype. What if you need it to remember how to properly mix the combination?"

"I have five others of the exact same formula in my briefcase right now," he informed her. "And I always write down notes as I'm working on new formulas, as well, so there's no need to worry about me forgetting the proper combination. Please, take it."

He held the vial out to her once more and she hesitantly took it, thanking him as she removed the stopper herself and took deep breath over the contents within.

"I don't know how you came up with this one, but I think it's magic," she told him, her eyes sparkling.

"The magic is in the inspiration," he informed her, though he held his tongue about what had truly inspired the fragrance she was now holding in her hands. He watched her inhale the scent once more before she dabbed a bit of it onto the pad of her finger and applied it behind each of her ears.

"There," she said with a smile, stoppering the vial. "Now I will be able to smell like your brilliant new fragrance all day."

"Nothing makes me happier than when a customer enjoys wearing one of my fragrances."

 _Especially when the person in question is you and the fragrance happens to be a representation of everything you embody_ , he added in the back of his mind.

He offered to make her coffee and share some of the treats his clients had sent for his birthday with her, but she politely declined. She needed to get back to her farm and do the chores she had been neglecting in order to pass out flowers to the residents of Oak Tree Town. She promised to come by again later in the week to take him up on the offer, though, and Klaus couldn't help but smile.

"It's a date, then," he agreed, though he meant it as a figure of speech and not a literal date. He knew he was too old for her, but there was no harm in enjoying her company over a cup of coffee and some sweet treats...

Was there?


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the first major appearance of Marian, who I adore, and I just wanted to make a couple of notes about him: 1) I'm not sure why, but I imagine his voice is actually pretty deep. Personally, when he talks in the game I hear Jeffrey Tambor's voice in my head. Might have something to do with the fact I watched Transparent. 2) Klaus and Marian are - in my mind - about the same height in bare feet, right around the 6-foot mark. However, with his heels, Marian is a good three inches taller.
> 
> One final note: I decided not to do a chapter with the actual "date" between Klaus and Avery and instead wrote this one which takes place after they've already met up for coffee at his house. Otherwise, I would have ended up writing about the date and then just rehashing it in the next chapter and that seemed a bit too repetitive to me.

**Chapter Two**

Klaus listened to the clock on the wall behind him ticking away the seconds, the sound practically echoing through the complete silence of the room. With a sigh, he picked up his coffee cup and took a drink, then looked across the table to his companion.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Marian asked, continuing to stare at him with a smirk on his face.

"I know you've got something on your mind," Klaus stated, topping off his cup with some more of the strong, black coffee. "Spit it out, already."

"How was your date?" Marian questioned, grinning like a cheshire cat behind his mug. Klaus let out an annoyed sigh.

"It wasn't a date," he corrected, dropping two sugar cubes into his coffee and giving it a good stir. "She came over for coffee and we talked."

"About what? The color of her panties? Her favorite position?"

Klaus leveled an icy glare at his old friend, and Marian tossed up a hand in surrender. He knew just how to push the perfumer's buttons, but he should have known better than to attempt it when it came to this particular subject.

" _Her family_ ," Klaus practically growled in response.

"Oh, how riveting," Marian remarked, rolling his eyes. "Learn anything interesting?"

"Her father was a farmer until he fell ill and had to sell the family farm so they could move closer to the city where the doctors he needed to see are. Her mother is a painter, specializing in natural landscapes."

"Brothers and sisters?"

"She's an only child," Klaus informed him. "However, she has a cousin she's especially close to. Said they were practically sisters growing up, and their families even lived together for a while when hers first relocated to the city. She's a farmer now, as well, over in Echo Village."

Marian's head snapped up at that, his eyes going wide and mouth hanging open slightly.

"This cousin of hers have a name?"

Klaus closed his eyes and rubbed his chin, his brow scrunching up in thought. "Adelina, I think she said."

"That little... Klaus! That's the young woman from the article I showed you in the paper last year. The one who was helping restore Echo Village to its former glory."

"And?" Klaus prompted as he calmly sipped his coffee, waiting for whatever point Marian was trying to make.

"That little bitch lured Allen away from the city!" the effeminate doctor complained, pouting.

"So?" Klaus asked, not really understanding what the great tragedy was.

"My hair hasn't been the same since!" Marian ranted, reaching up and tugging as his short, pink locks. "Ricardo is good and all, but Allen... that boy had magic fingers. Remember how full and luscious it used to look, and now it just lays there like limp noodles!"

"Here's an idea," Klaus suggested. "Why don't you go to Echo Village and visit Allen at his new salon? It's not that far away."

"You make it sound like I can easily just pop over there," Marian whined. "But that's a day trip, at least, and you're forgetting that I'm the town doctor. I can't just up and disappear for an entire day. What if someone fell seriously ill or was injured while I'm away?"

"Isn't that what Angela is for?" Klaus pointed out. "She's been working with you for a while, now. I think she can handle a day on her own, what? Once a month?"

"Good point," Marian agreed, then hummed thoughtfully to himself for a moment before grinning and clapping his hands together excitedly. "It's settled, then! I'll make an appointment and go visit Allen at his new salon. Ooh! Maybe I'll even run into Avery's cousin! Then I can get some dirt on her for you."

"Please don't," Klaus requested with a groan.

"Why not? I know you like her."

"Of course I like her. She's a nice girl."

"Not what I meant, Klaus," Marian said, his tone suddenly very serious. Klaus met his gaze and began to shift uncomfortably under those knowing violet eyes. They continued to stare each other down for a long moment before Klaus suddenly couldn't sit still any longer. He stood from his seat and began to pace, running a hand back through his dark hair.

"I _don't_ like her like that," he insisted.

"Liar," Marian countered. "I've seen the way you look at her."

"I won't deny that she's a good-looking young woman."

"Which explains the way you seem to undress her with your eyes from time to time, but what I'm more curious about are the homeless puppy looks I've seen."

Klaus stopped pacing to look at him questioningly. "Homeless puppy looks?"

"You know," Marian attempted to explain, waving a hand about as he searched for the right words. "It's like... when you see a stray dog in the city, and it's dirty and looks like it hasn't had a good meal in weeks. Then they see you sitting there eating a bagel and they have this look of longing and hunger in their eyes. I always end up giving them my bagel and a pat on their mangy little heads."

Klaus scoffed and rolled his eyes as he resumed his pacing. "I'm not some stray dog looking for scraps."

"Oh? And when was the last time _you_ had a bagel, Klaus?" Marian asked, smirking behind his coffee cup.

"If you're asking how long it's been since I've had sex, I think you already know the answer to that question."

Marian swallowed so suddenly he began coughing, and Klaus turned his attention to the doctor to make sure he was okay. Marian's eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth hung open as he set his mug back down before him on the table.

"You mean to tell me you haven't been with anyone since...?" he intentionally let his voice trail off, not wanting to bring up the incident and upset Klaus further. At his nod of confirmation, the doctor's expression became even more shocked.

"Klaus! It's been..." he paused to mentally count back in time. " _Seven years_?!"

"Almost eight," Klaus corrected, placing his hands on the back of the chair he had been sitting in and leaning forward.

"I'm assuming not for lack of trying?"

" _I_ have been trying nothing, but there certainly hasn't been a lack of trying from women – and the occasional man."

Marian let out a small chuckle, and Klaus looked at him through the dark hair which had fallen over his eyes, quirking a single eyebrow.

"You know... Back in the day, you'd be bragging about how you nailed every one of them. The women, at any rate."

Klaus shrugged. "I was young and stupid back then. These days, none of them ignite my passions the way they used to."

"Except for Avery," Marian added, his devilish smirk returning.

Klaus drew in a sharp breath and straightened his posture, his hands gripping the back of the chair more tightly. He knew he could try to deny the accusation, but the other man would see right through the lie. They'd known each other for over fifteen years and Marian had seen him at his worst. There was no use trying to hide his true feelings in front of him.

"I dream about her," he admitted, his voice barely audible. "Then I wake up and I... I fantasize about her. I can't help it. There's just something... I don't know what it is. But what I _do_ know is that nothing can ever come of it."

"Why not?" Marian wondered with a shrug. "You're both consenting adults."

"She is _barely_ an adult, and I'm practically twice her age."

"You're thirty-six," Marian reminded him.

"And she's twenty," Klaus countered.

"Almost twenty-one," Marian informed him, holding up one finger. "Her birthday is at the end of the season. On the 29th, to be exact."

Klaus shook his head. "She deserves better. She needs someone closer to her age, someone who isn't as damaged."

"Someone like Raeger?" Marian suggested, earning a glare from Klaus. "The two of them seem _pretty_ close, you know. She eats at his restaurant every day. In fact, I'm fairly sure she goes to visit him after hours, too."

Klaus knew he was being baited. He had more or less confessed to having some sort of feelings toward Avery, and here Marian was pointing out that the girl might very well be pursuing something with the biggest playboy in town. It made his blood boil to think that the younger man could end up doing to her what he'd done to countless women in his own youth. She deserved better than that. She deserved to be showered with love and worshiped like a goddess, to have sweet words whispered to her in the night and kisses laid upon every inch of her smooth, porcelain skin.

"You're thinking about her right now, aren't you?" Marian asked in a sing-song voice.

"What makes you say that?" Klaus wondered.

"Your respiratory rate just increased, and your pupils are dilated. I would _love_ to know what dirty little thoughts are going through your mind right now, but I should be getting to the clinic. Besides, I doubt you'd tell me."

Marian finished the last of his coffee, then stood and rounded the table to where Klaus was standing. He reached up and gave his friend an encouraging pat on the shoulder as he bent down to his height.

"Stop trying to pull the wool over your own eyes, honey," he told him quietly. "Let this happen. You deserve a little happiness in your life."

He gave Klaus a quick peck on the cheek and then left. Klaus promptly locked the door behind him, needing some time alone with his thoughts.

 

* * *

 

"Voila! My newest creation!" Raeger announced, setting a fancy silver platter holding an entire cake in front of Avery. She looked from the cake to him, then back once more and shook her head.

"You don't actually want me to eat _all_ of this, do you?" she asked, pointing at the cake with her fork. "I mean... are you _trying_ to make me fat?"

Raeger rolled his eyes. "Like you'd ever get fat. Even with that sweet tooth of yours, you still run around in the mountains and on that farm of yours enough every day to work it off. I see your point, though."

He bent down and moved some things around under the counter, then stood back up and handed her a plate. Avery took the plate from him and held it out while he used a large knife to cut a slice and serve it to her, then he slid the rest of the cake aside and leaned forward to prop his head in one hand while he observed her.

"Well?" he prompted, and she cut a small bite from the end of the slice and put it in her mouth. He watched her intently as she chewed and swallowed, a smile lighting up his face. He loved it when people ate his cooking, and Avery was always more than happy to try out his latest dishes.

"No," she finally said with a shake of her head, her lips set in a tight line. The smile fell from Raeger's face and he stood to his full height, snatching the fork and plate away from her to try to cake himself.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked, holding a forkful up to the light to examine its texture.

"Too sweet," she told him, earning herself an incredulous look. He knew she had a love of all things sweet, so much so that she always ordered enough cream and sugar in her coffee so it was as though she was drinking melted coffee ice cream.

"I mean, it's good!" she clarified. "It's just... missing something. It needs tartness... lemon maybe?"

Raeger groaned and the fork made an audible sound as it hit the plate when he dropped it to smack his hand to his forehead. Without a word, he moved farther down the counter and reached underneath, then produced a small white bowl with a pastry brush sticking out of it.

"Idiot," he berated himself, raising the brush out of the bowl and painting the white glaze over the top of her slice of cake. "I forgot the glaze. How can you have lemon chiffon cake without the lemon glaze?

"Try it now," he ordered, pushing the plate back toward her after he'd applied a thick layer of the glaze. Avery took another bite and grinned happily, eating a second and third bite with an emphatic nod of her head before finally speaking.

"Perfect!" she said, clapping. "The master chef has created another masterpiece!"

"You know why I forgot the glaze?" he said, chuckling as she continued to shovel forkful after forkful of the cake into her mouth like an eager child.

"Why?" she asked between bites.

"Because I was excited to hear all about your date with Klaus."

The fork made an even louder noise when it hit the plate a second time, this time having been thrown down angrily by Avery.

"It wasn't a date!" she insisted. "I mean... Okay, yeah... When we made the arrangements he said, 'It's a date,' but he didn't mean it that way."

"Did he kiss you?"

"No."

"I bet he did!" Raeger teased. "With tongue!"

"There was _no kissing_ ," Avery corrected him, the pitch of her voice rising and her cheeks turning bright red. "We barely even held hands!"

" _Barely_?" Raeger echoed. "So there _was_ hand-holding?"

"I..." Avery's voice died in her throat and she hid her face in her hands as she let out a loud, frustrated groan. Raeger had tricked her. He knew Klaus was too much of a gentleman to try anything overly sexual, but that something _must_ have happened. Of course, she had probably spurred his suspicions herself by not being forthcoming about the events of her so-called date with Klaus from the moment she walked in.

"We we talking about our families," she finally told him, lowering her hands into her lap. "He told me about how his parents died, and I just instinctively reached out and took his hand."

"And?" Raeger prompted.

"And nothing. He held my hand for, like, a second, and then he pulled his hand away and apologized."

"Tch, prude," Raeger muttered. "You know, if you want him you're just going to have to hold him down and ride him like a horse."

"Ride who?"

They both looked toward the doorway and saw Marian walking toward them. Neither of them had heard him coming in, and while Avery sat with her face turning redder than a tomato Raeger was quickly coming up with a logical answer for the doctor.

"Her horse, Pinot," he said, flashing his most charming smile. "Who else would we be talking about?"

"No," Marian replied, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "You said ' _like_ a horse,' suggesting that the subject of the riding is not, in fact, an actual horse."

"Fine," Raeger gave in, sighing. "We're talking about Klaus."

"Raeger!" Avery shouted, reaching over the counter and smacking at him violently with both hands. "You ass! Now the whole town is going to know!"

"Open your mouth," Marian ordered, looking to Avery. She stared back dumbly at the doctor, confused by the request.

"Just do it," he insisted when she failed to comply.

Avery looked to Raeger, who merely looked as confused as she was. He shrugged and she moved her gaze back to Marian, then opened her mouth as she was instructed. Marian leaned forward to peer inside.

"Now, say 'ahh,'" he told her, and she did so. With a nod, he finally leaned back and took a seat at the counter.

"You don't have strep," he announced, pointing to the nearby cake and then the empty counter in front of him to signal that Raeger should serve him a slice. Raeger rolled his eyes and retrieved a clean plate from under the counter, then cut a slice of the cake and began to apply the glaze.

"Um... thanks?" Avery said, even more confused than she had been before.

"I've just examined you, as your doctor," Marian explained. "So from hereon out anything you tell me right here and now will be considered as having been told to me in confidence under doctor-patient confidentiality. I will not be able to repeat a word or it to another living soul, no matter how juicy it might be."

"Really?" Avery asked, narrowing her brown eyes at the doctor. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Look," Marian said with a sigh, pausing to thank Raeger when he set his piece of cake before him. "I know I have a reputation for being a gossip. I'm quite proud of that reputation, actually. When it comes to my work, however, I take it _very_ seriously. I swear I will not breathe a word of whatever you tell me today to anyone."

Avery looked to Raeger for his opinion. He'd been living in Oak Tree Town longer than she had and knew Marian better than she did. He rolled his eyes a bit and shrugged, but ended up nodding in agreement. Avery turned back to Marian, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. She knew that he was close with Klaus, and she was worried that if she told him about her crush it would get back to Klaus and one of two things would happen. Either he would admit to liking her, as well – which would be wonderful – or he would laugh and turn her down, crushing her dreams.

"Pinky promise," Marian said, holding up his right hand with the pinky extended. He then wiggled his finger and Avery finally smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Fine," she said, picking up her fork to finish the last bit of her cake. "We were talking about Klaus."

"So... You have a thing for him?" Marian asked, taking a bite of his cake, as well. As soon as the confection hit his tongue he made a loud noise of appreciation and gave Raeger a thumbs-up.

"It's just a crush," Avery insisted, but Raeger scoffed at her statement.

"It's a little more than that, I think," he corrected.

"How so?" Marian asked before Avery could get a word in.

"Last week, yeah... it was a crush. But today it's different. Now she _likes_ him."

"What are you talking about?" Avery wondered, her mouth agape at how confidently he was assessing _her_ emotional state regarding Klaus.

"Babe, trust me. Something's changed," he told her. "I've been unfortunate enough to have been on the receiving end a couple of times when a girl went from simply wanting me to wanting to _be_ _with_ me."

"Like it matters," Avery moped. "A perfect guy like him would never want to be with someone as inexperienced as me."

Marian laughed. "Klaus is _far_ from perfect, sweetie. Trust me. He just hides it well."

"Either way, it doesn't matter," Avery stated firmly, standing from her seat at the counter. "I'm not the kind of girl _you're_ used to, Raeger. I'm not just going to... throw myself at him."

"You might have to, if you really want him," Marian informed her with a sigh.

Avery remained frozen in the spot, looking back and forth between Marian and Raeger. She could tell from their expressions that they were both thinking the same thing. Klaus wasn't going to simply decide one day that he wanted her and ask her to be his girlfriend. She knew they were right, and it caused her heart to sink a little. Still, she would wait it out. She would continue to visit him and hopefully as they got to know each other better he might start to see her as someone he would like to date for real. It was a long shot, but she wasn't about to give up. Of course, if it seemed that he was too oblivious to her feelings after a while, maybe she really _would_ have to...

"I'm not that kind of girl," she repeated with a shake of her head, her voice a mere whisper.

She thanked Raeger for the cake and left the restaurant, not even realizing as she walked home that she had taken the long way in order to walk by Klaus' house.


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three  
**

Raeger couldn't help but smirk. He was busying himself with cleaning glasses, but he kept an eye on Klaus as he sat at the far end of the counter, eating a late lunch. The perfumer had been coming in nearly every day for the past few weeks, save for the days when he was out of town tending to his business in the city. Each time he came in he sat on that same stool and kept stealing glances in the direction of the door.

He knew why Klaus was there. Marian had told him how he'd informed the other man of Avery's fondness for dining at his establishment, as well as how he'd hinted that there might be something more than just friendship between them. Raeger had gotten a good laugh out of that. He admitted he'd been interested, at first, but she'd been a bit oblivious to his initial, more subtle advances and he realized he actually liked having a woman around who just wanted to be friends. He was happy to play along with Marian's schemes, however, and agreed to turn up the charm toward Avery whenever Klaus was dining at the same time she was.

So far, the plan hadn't worked as they hoped. Marian had been banking on Klaus getting jealous and finally owning up to his own feelings toward Avery, but so far the only reactions Raeger had gotten were icy glares from the older man and him leaving with half his food unfinished. He was beginning to think their plan was going to backfire badly. Sooner or later, Klaus would end up resigned to the – albeit fake – fact that Avery was with him. Which was why Raeger had decided that today, he would change things up a bit. Instead of him simply flirting with Avery, he was going to lead her into doing something that Klaus would have no choice but to take notice of.

Oh yes... The old man was in for a big surprise once she finally arrived for her afternoon treat.

 

* * *

 

Avery sighed heavily as she tied Pinot to the hitching post in the center of town. The summer season was half over, which meant they were getting the hottest weather of the year. It had been oppressive in the city, so she'd been hopeful that country summers would be a little easier to handle. It wasn't as hot in the mountains, that was certain, but instead they had humidity – which was probably worse. At least in the city, she'd only had to deal with a dry heat that made her feel like she could never drink enough water. Now, she was dealing with a stickiness that clung to her skin and made her feel so horribly covered in sweat that she had started taking a second shower every afternoon once she was done making her rounds to the various fields she was renting.

Raeger knew all about her plight. She'd complained to him so much about it that he offered to add an entirely new menu item just for her: ice cream. The frozen treat had been a hit with her and many of the other villagers, especially the children, and it gave him a new medium to experiment with. As thanks for giving him the idea, he let her have as much ice cream as she wanted – on the house – and she stopped by every afternoon to sample whatever new flavors he'd come up with. Her stomach let out an audible sound of anticipation as she closed in on the restaurant's front stoop, and she took the steps two at a time.

"Raeger," she whined as she opened the front door, "I'm hot and my tummy is rumbly."

As soon as her eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting of the restaurant, she blushed. Sitting at the far end of the counter, looking straight at her with the tiniest smile on his face, was Klaus. He quickly averted his gaze from her and back to the meal before him, but the damage had already been done. He'd seen her acting like a child and she wished she'd had the foresight to not choose today of all days to complain about the heat.

"You certainly are hot," Raeger remarked in his usual, playful tone, pulling her out of her self-deprecating thoughts. She turned to him and gave him a look as if to say, ' _Do you really need to act like this right now_?' Her eyes briefly moved to Klaus, who was still content to keep his attention on his food, then she shook her head at the chef and took up her usual place at the counter.

"What do you have for me today?" she wondered, her eyes once more fixing upon the perfumer.

She should have known he would be there. He'd been coming by more and more frequently to have his meals, and though she never really spoke to him while he was eating – she'd learned that people got a bit testy in Oak Tree Town when their meals were disturbed, so she always let him eat in peace – they always exchanged pleasantries as he was on his way out the door. Occasionally they would make small talk, him asking about how her farm was doing while she inquired about his search for a distributor for his newest fragrance. He always seemed rather awkward while talking to her there, which was quite unlike the more laid-back attitude he'd had when she visited him at home. Perhaps he was uncomfortable around Raeger, for some reason.

"I'm afraid you don't get to have your usual sundae," the chef informed her, and Avery turned to him with large, sad eyes. She had been so looking forward to some ice cream drenched in chocolate sauce and topped with toasted walnuts. He chuckled at her dismayed expression and poked her on the tip of her nose.

"Relax, you still get your ice cream," he assured her with a wink. "I just thought I'd try something different today."

"Oh?"

Raeger grinned at her and began messing around behind the counter, preparing whatever he had for her. Avery looked over to Klaus and gave him a small wave, and he gave a single nod of his head in acknowledgment before returning his attention to his meal. She would have been upset at the apparent brush-off, but she noticed that he was currently working on a bowl of bouillabaisse – which she assumed to be his favorite food, as often as she had seen him order it.

"Here you are, miss," Raeger announced. "Blueberry ice cream, churned fresh this morning and served on a hand-made waffle cone."

Avery blinked in surprise at what was being offered to her. She had off-handedly commented about how Raeger should consider making cones and edible bowls for his ice cream when she told him about her favorite cafe back home. The fact he not only remembered but also went to the trouble to learn how to make them for her was touching... and a bit suspicious.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked as she took the treat from him, narrowing her eyes.

"You've got a birthday coming up," he replied with a shrug. "We're friends. I wanted to do something nice for you. Besides, you're right – I think with the cones people will be even more eager to purchase ice cream because they won't be required to sit here while they eat it. Instead, they can take it with them outside and enjoy the beautiful weather."

Avery groaned. " _Beautiful_? It makes me feel all hot and sweaty."

" _I'll_ make you hot and sweaty, princess," Raeger said, and Avery heard Klaus beginning to cough at the other end of the counter. She looked over to where he was sitting, blushing furiously, then turned back to the chef and lowered her voice.

"I am _not_ going to sleep with you," she reminded him through clenched teeth.

"Sorry. Just slipped out," Raeger apologized, genuinely looking guilty. "Automatic response sort of thing. Anyway, you better eat that before it melts."

He watched her expectantly and Avery took a lick of the cold, sweet ice cream. As soon as it hit her tongue she let out a small moan of appreciation. She loved blueberries – a fact Raeger was well aware of – and she felt no shame in making her enjoyment of the dessert in her hand known. Wanting to make it last as long as possible, she took her time in eating the ice cream, slowly licking all the way around the large scoop. Unfortunately, she had taken too long to start eating and with her slower pace it began to melt and dripped onto her hand and the counter top.

"Oops," she said with a pout, looking at the mess she'd made. Raeger simply chuckled and mopped up the spill with a rag.

"You dirty girl," he teased her, his tone suggestive. Avery switched the cone to her opposite hand and raised the one covered in ice cream to her mouth to lick it clean, but he intercepted it and brought it to his lips. He kissed her sticky knuckles, then licked his lips and wiped away the rest with the rag.

"You better watch yourself," he said, lowering his voice. "I think you're making the old man horny."

Avery gave him a confused look and he turned to look back over his shoulder and smirk at Klaus, who was staring at them with flushed cheeks. Avery blushed again and bit her bottom lip, and Klaus finally looked away and wiped his mouth with a napkin before standing from his seat.

"It was wonderful, as always, Raeger," he said, pulling some money from the pocket of his long, green coat and placing it upon the counter next to his unfinished meal.

"Thanks, Klaus!" Raeger called to the older man, who was already quickly heading for the door. "Come by again!"

Avery didn't move a muscle as Klaus swept by her and left the restaurant, and it wasn't until the door closed behind him that she realized she had been holding her breath. She let it out with a heavy sigh, then leveled an angry glare at her best friend.

"What?" Raeger said, standing up to his full height and looking at her with wide, innocent blue eyes. "I didn't do anything."

"I'm sure he _heard_ you, Raeger!" she reprimanded him. "You probably embarrassed him!"

Raeger scoffed. "I doubt that man can be embarrassed."

"He was blushing!"

"Yeah..." Raeger drawled with a smirk. "I bet that he was just getting all hot and bothered from watching the way you were practically pleasuring that ice cream cone with your naughty little tongue."

Avery slammed her open palm down on the counter and stood, thrusting her half-finished ice cream in his face.

"You know, Raeger... You're my friend, and I love you, but sometimes you make me want to just slap the shit out of you.

"Here," she added, pushing her dessert against his chest, crushing the cone and smearing the purplish ice cream all over his clothes. "I don't want any more of this."

"I'm sorry, Avery," he apologized, wincing at the mess. "I really didn't mean to make you angry."

"I know," she told him, her voice a frustrated growl. "It's just how you are. Right now, though, I just... I need to go see Klaus and apologize for what happened, since I know you wouldn't be able to do it without making some sort of smartass comment."

"See you tomorrow?" Raeger called to her as she was leaving, a hopeful note to his voice. Avery stopped with her hand on the doorknob and nodded her head, then set off after Klaus.

 

* * *

 

Klaus paced back and forth next to his work station, angrily cursing Raeger's name under his breath. Marian had been right: he really _was_ trying to get into Avery's pants. Eventually, he'd have his way and then that poor girl would end up getting tossed aside once he got bored of her. Part of him had been hopeful that maybe – just maybe – there was an actual love blossoming between them. He could have gracefully stepped aside and let things happen, in that case. However, that little display he'd just witnessed at the restaurant proved to him that the younger man was just as bad as he had been at his age.

He'd tried his best to ignore the two of them, even though seeing her so excited about something as simple as an ice cream cone had been so endearing he'd wanted nothing more than to watch her enjoy the treat. The quick little glances he'd stolen while pretending to eat his soup had more of an effect on him than he wanted to admit, though. She'd been savoring it in a way that made him ache with a long-unfulfilled need. The worst part was, he was sure she had no idea what she was doing. To her, she was simply eating ice cream. Then she'd made that mess and Raeger called her a 'dirty girl' in such a way that Klaus _knew_ it was meant to be sexual. He hadn't been able to hear much of their exchange after that, but one word had reached his ears loud and clear: horny.

Klaus stopped pacing and punched the wall between the lounge area of his home and where he worked and slept, leaving a slight indentation. He was beyond frustrated with the situation. For all he knew, Raeger could have shut down the restaurant early after he left and might very well be seducing Avery into his bed at that moment. He certainly hoped that wasn't the case, though even if it wasn't he had no idea how he would ever prevent it from happening. He couldn't very well just walk up to her and tell her what was on his mind. What would he say?

_'That cocky little shit is just going to use you and then drop you once he's found another pretty girl he wants to bang.'_

_'You're making a mistake if you think Raeger actually cares about you and wants you for anything other than your body.'_

_'He could never treat you as well as you deserve. You should be with me.'_

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, attempting to calm his anger, then jumped when he heard a knock at his door. It was quiet, almost apprehensive, and a glance out the front window revealed a nervous-looking Avery waiting upon his stoop.

"Coming," he called out, then closed his eyes and took several more calming breaths. By the time he opened the door for her, he was back to his usual, collected demeanor.

"May I come in?" she asked, wringing her hands in front of her. She was barely able to meet his eyes, and he found he couldn't speak. He simply nodded and stepped aside to let her in, then closed the door behind her. The two of them stood together in his parlor, an awkward silence filling the air around them for a long while before Klaus finally decided to break the tension.

"What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" he asked her, ever the proper gentleman.

"I... I wanted to apologize for what happened back there. Raeger can be... _very_ forward at times, and he doesn't really think before he speaks. And, well, I..."

Her voice trailed off and she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. Klaus took a slow breath as he watched her, but kept his eyes focused upon her rather than turning away. If she had something else to say, he didn't want her to think he was ignoring her.

"I just wanted to see you," she told him, raising her shy gaze to his.

"You really shouldn't say things like that," he admonished her, his voice barely audible. She cocked her head to one side, a confused look on her face, and Klaus finally looked away from her. He briefly weighed his options, then decided that this would be the perfect time to issue a warning to her about the dangerous game she was playing with Raeger.

"You see," he said, moving closer to her. "Saying such things can give certain men... ideas."

He continued to advance upon her, giving her a dark look, and she slowly backed away from him until she was pressed against the edge of his dining table.

"Blithely stating those sort of things to every man you meet... you're going to end up getting yourself into trouble," he told her, closing in on her and stopping directly in front of her. He placed his hands on either side of her body, trapping her between him and the table, then leaned in close until his lips were mere inches from hers. He heard her breath hitch slightly, but he didn't pull away. This was a point she needed to fully understand.

"One of these days, you're going to end up being devoured by a big... bad... wolf," he whispered, his eyes falling closed as he slowly drew out the last three words, and he further closed the distance between them.

"Klaus."

Avery softly gasped his name and his eyes flew open. Realizing what he was doing, he immediately pulled away from her, putting as much space between them as he could without leaving the room.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, running a hand back through his hair. "Sometimes my tongue gets far more loose than is proper. Fortunately, though, I still have some scruples left. A less honorable man, however, would not have stopped."

He was talking to himself as much as he was to her, reminding himself of his place with her and that he wasn't the man he used to be when he lived in the city.

"My point is that you shouldn't string people along," he told her, his back still turned to her.

"I'm not stringing anyone along," she replied, and he looked down to find her small hand upon his arm.

"You should go," he said, still staring at her hand. "I have some work I need to finish up."

"Oh... Okay."

She sounded so crestfallen that Klaus wanted to turn to her and ask her to stay, but he knew she needed to go. It would be for the best. She hesitated, gently squeezing his arm for a bit before finally releasing him and heading for the door.

"Avery," he called after her.

"Yes?"

"Be careful going home."

He waited until he heard the door close behind her, then slumped against the nearest wall and slid to the floor to sit. He had _wanted_ to kiss her. He'd come so very close to doing it, and if it hadn't been for her saying his name he would have. He was thankful she had stopped him, because he would have had a hard time controlling himself. It had been so long and he wanted her so badly that things very likely would not have stopped with a simple kiss. Closing his eyes, he could just imagine how he would have carried her to his bed, or perhaps he would have simply taken her right there on the table. Then he would have immediately regretted it.

She deserved better. She deserved a charming prince on a white steed.

And he was nothing but a big, bad wolf.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Klaus usually enjoyed the yearly concert, but this year he was dreading his decision to attend. Iris had insisted he go with her to watch Mistel play, as he had every year since they moved into the house near his and converted the downstairs into an antiques shop, and any protests he made had fallen upon deaf ears.

It wasn't that he didn't like the show the villagers put on. He would have had no qualms with attending if it wasn't for the fact that he had been purposely avoiding Avery ever since the day he nearly kissed her. She'd stopped by his house a few times since then, but he'd always told her he was busy and sent her on her way rather than inviting her in for coffee like he normally would have. She stopped after a couple of weeks, and he'd felt so bad he sent her a birthday present: a full-sized bottle of the perfume which – when it was finally released to the public – would bear her name. But then he had promptly refused to attend the Summer Harvest Festival the very next day, which Marian informed him she had taken first place in for the vegetables category.

He felt like a hypocrite. He had lectured her about how she shouldn't string people along, and here he was, sending her mixed signals.

He hadn't been at all surprised to see her sitting next to Raeger when he and Iris arrived at the trade depot. She had her hair down again, though part of it was pulled back on one side and held in place with a silver butterfly barrette. He noted that she was wearing the same dress she'd had on the day she presented him with that rose for the Flower Fair, and part of him wondered if it was the only one she owned. He'd only ever seen her in that one dress, aside from her farming clothes. Perhaps she just wasn't the sort of girl who liked getting dolled up that much.

"You're staring," Iris whispered to him, and he turned to find her smirking. "Why don't you go over there and sit next to her?"

"Can't you see she's here with Raeger?" he pointed out to her.

"Oh, come off it," Iris grumbled then began waving her arm about in the air as she called Avery's name to get her attention.

Klaus tried to avoid her gaze when she turned her head to seek out whoever was calling for her, but as soon as her eyes fell upon him she smiled and he couldn't look away. She raised her hand and waved at him and he nodded and gave her a small wave back, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly. She then gestured for them to join her where she was sitting, and Iris looped her arm through his and began to lead him through the crowd of people who had not yet claimed seats of their own for the concert.

"Tell me, Klaus," Iris said, keeping her voice low as they passed by the local innkeeper and his daughters. "If Avery is supposedly so smitten with Raeger, then why is that the first time I've seen her smile in weeks?"

He didn't have an opportunity to make any sort of remark to her comment, as Avery stood from her seat and approached them once they were close to where she and Raeger were sitting.

"Miss Ingersson, I read your latest novel, and I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed it," Avery gushed, causing Iris to chuckle.

"Please, just Iris is fine," she assured the younger woman. "I'm glad you enjoyed the book. Hopefully you'll like the next one just as much, if not more."

She turned to Klaus and winked at him, and he narrowed his eyes slightly at her. She was up to something. He could tell. For as old as she was, Iris had the mischievous nature of a child and was often plotting some sort of scheme in the back of her mind. Normally, those schemes made it onto the pages of one of her books, but he had a dreadful feeling that this time things were going to play out in the real world rather than some fictional one.

She suddenly took a seat, purposefully leaving an empty space right next to where Avery had been sitting, and patted the chair next to hers as Avery sat back down. Klaus moved to take the chair on the opposite side of Iris, but Marian beat him to it. The doctor flashed a toothy grin, knowing he'd given Klaus no choice but to sit next to the very woman he'd been avoiding. With a sigh, he finally sat down next to her. No sooner had he taken his seat than he found her hand resting upon his arm.

"I'm glad you decided to come," she told him, flashing that sweet smile of hers once more. "You've been working so much, lately... I was worried you might make yourself ill."

Now he felt even worse for having brushed her off. All this time, she simply thought he'd been busy with work – which wasn't _entirely_ untrue, but most of the time he'd merely been keeping to himself and catching up on his reading. He'd been trying desperately to push her away and out of his thoughts, while she seemed to have been constantly thinking of him and worrying for his well-being.

"I'm fine," he assured her, his tone a bit shorter than he would have liked. Her smile faltered slightly and she pulled her hand away from him with a nod, then turned her attention to the stage as the performers took their places and Veronica stood up to announce the start of the afternoon's concert.

The small band started off with a light, airy tune which served as the town's unofficial anthem, then segued into a lively little jig. Melanie pulled Lutz to the area in front of where the stage had been set up, and the two of them performed a dance together, the poor boy blushing all the way to his ears the entire time. Next came a few tunes which had been requested by various residents of the town, and then came the time for the traditional Sweethearts Dance. Klaus rose from his seat with the others and turned to find a confused Avery still in her chair.

"This is the part where we clear the chairs aside so that the couples of the town can dance," he explained to her, reaching out and taking her hand in his to pull her to her feet. Avery blushed and silently picked her chair up, then followed Raeger over to the side of the stage and placed her chair among the others.

"I'm going to ask old Mr. Otmar to dance," Iris announced, pointing to the elderly owner of the general store, who was standing by himself on the other side of the makeshift dance floor.

"Oh?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where is Madam Eda?"

"She hasn't been feeling well," Avery answered, her voice full of sadness. Klaus turned and found her with her head hanging low. "She said she was too tired to come, today, but insisted Mr. Otmar be here to enjoy it for both of them."

Klaus frowned at that. He'd heard rumors about Madam Eda's decreased involvement in the town's trading, and he remembered Avery telling him that the older woman had gifted her with the only cow she had remaining on the farm she and her husband had started decades ago. He'd assumed she was simply of an age where she wished to finally retire and enjoy the simpler things in life – and perhaps finally pursue some romance of her own with Otmar – but it seemed maybe things weren't so idyllic.

Without thinking, he reached over and placed his hand in the small of Avery's back, wordlessly offering her some comfort with the hope of bringing her smile back. She turned her head and looked up at him, giving him a weak smile, and he saw a sadness in her brown eyes that made his heart feel tight. He couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, a part of that sadness had been his own doing. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to her, but he didn't know what. He didn't want to give her false hope by assuring her Eda was going to be fine, and he really wasn't sure how to properly apologize for his recent behavior toward her.

"I'm sorry," he simply said. She nodded and reached up, placing her hand upon his arm, and he slowly pulled her closer to him.

"Man, I bet ol' Otmar is enjoying himself right now," Raeger remarked with a hearty chuckle, breaking the moment between them. Klaus quickly released Avery and she took a step back away from him as she turned to address the chef.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, look!" Raeger instructed her, pointing to where Otmar was dancing with Iris. Due to their height difference, the old man's line of sight was directly aimed at his partner's breasts.

"Pervert!" Avery scolded Raeger, shoving him in the shoulder. Still, she was smiling, and Klaus found himself mentally thanking the younger man for that.

"Raeger, dance with me!" Klaus heard the voice of young Melanie plead, and the chef looked over at the girl with a smile.

"I'm too old for you, you know," he insisted, bending down to put himself closer to her height.

"Please?" she whined, batting her big blue eyes at him. Raeger glanced up to the performers on the stage, then turned back to her.

"Well, I suppose one dance won't hurt," he agreed, giving her a wink. Melanie cheered and grabbed his hand, then dragged him onto the dance floor, and Klaus chuckled when she climbed onto his feet to 'dance' with him.

Klaus looked out over the other couples who had taken to dancing together. Gunther and Corona were cozied up together near the center of the crowd, the large carpenter beaming as his young wife rested her head on his shoulder. Iris' younger brother was dancing with the guildmaster's daughter, while the guildmaster herself was dancing with Melanie's father, Maurice. A young woman wearing a green beret who Klaus didn't recognize was dancing with Giorgio, which was odd since he usually paired off with Marian. Even stranger was that Marian was dancing with Fritz, of all people.

He cocked his head to the side in curiosity when his old friend's gaze met his and he nodded toward the clumsy farmer with a questioning look. Marian rolled his eyes and then nodded his own head toward Avery. Klaus shook his head slightly, causing Marian's perfectly-painted lips to become set into a firm scowl.

' _Dance with her_ ,' he mouthed.

Klaus sighed and looked over to Avery. She was standing awkwardly next to him, staring at her hands and quietly humming along with the music. He reached out and gently brushed her long, golden hair back from her face and behind her shoulder, and she raised her head to look at him.

"Would you care to dance?" he asked her. She smiled shyly, said yes, and Klaus felt his heart start to hammer wildly in his chest as he took her hand and led her out among the others.

Keeping her hand in his, he placed his opposite hand at her waist while she reached up to place hers upon his shoulder, and the two of them began to dance to the slow, calm tune being played by the band. He looked around at the other couples and found Iris and Giorgio both smiling at them. Then, out of nowhere, something slammed into him and sent him crashing into Avery. He whipped his head around and found a blushing Fritz, who quickly apologized as he and Marian twirled off to another area, the doctor winking at him over his dancing partner's messy red hair.

"Sorry," Klaus apologized to Avery as he looked down at her and started to put more room between their bodies once more, but she tightly grasped the lapel of his coat and prevented him from backing away.

"Don't," she said, her voice barely audible, and she looked up at him with a renewed sadness in her eyes. "I don't know why you've been pushing me away so much lately, but it's really been bothering me."

Klaus was at a loss for words. "I... I didn't think you would... be okay with me after what happened before."

"You were trying to make a point," she reminded him with a small shake of her head, her eyes never leaving his.

"I crossed the line," he protested. "I could have easily made my point without putting you in that position."

"Klaus, I really don't care about what happened," Avery said, then immediately began biting her lip as she averted her gaze from his. She remained silent for a bit, then spoke once more.

"I mean, I _do_ care, but I wasn't angry. Well, I was..." She shook her head and blushed as she tripped over her words. "But what upset me was that you've been avoiding me. I like you. I like spending time with you, and I thought... I thought we were friends, at least."

"I like you, too, Avery," he told her softly, his tone of voice nearly giving away that he liked her as more than just a friend. He cleared his throat and raised his hand from her waist to her chin, turning her gaze from his chest to his face.

"Let me make this up to you," he requested. "We'll put all this... unpleasantness behind us and start over."

"I'd like that," she agreed with a smile.

"Come by for coffee tomorrow?" he offered.

"Tomorrow's Wednesday," she reminded him with a chuckle, and Klaus felt a bit dumb. He'd forgotten that he would be spending the next day tending to business in the city, but she had remembered.

"Thursday, then," he amended, and Avery nodded in agreement just as the music ended.

"It's a date," she told him, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the cheering and clapping of the crowd. Klaus smiled at her and she blushed, no doubt realizing how she had just mirrored his words from when they had made their first arrangements to meet at his home for coffee.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming today!" Veronica announced. "Let's give another round of applause to our talented musicians!"

The crowd erupted into another warm round of applause and cheers, and Klaus suddenly paled when he saw Marian walking up onto the stage to join the guildmaster. He had completely forgotten about this recent addition to the festival that he and Giogio had come up with.

"It is my honor to turn things over to our esteemed Dr. Marian, who will be announcing this year's Music Festival Sweethearts!"

"What's that?" Avery asked him as Veronica stepped aside to turn the proceedings over to Marian. Klaus shook his head, panic starting to grip at him when the doctor caught his eye and gave him a wink.

"Nothing good," he replied without looking at her. He should have known something like this would happen. It was why Marian had encouraged him to dance with Avery, why he and Fritz had 'accidentally' bumped into them so they ended up dancing closer together. He vaguely wondered if Iris had been in on it, too, with the way she had insisted they sit next to her and Raeger.

"Thank you, Veronica," Marian said, bowing. "Can we have a hand for our beautiful guildmaster, who single-handedly put this event together?"

"Come on," Klaus said, grabbing Avery's hand and attempting to escape with her before the latest round of applause completed. He stopped short when Giorgio stepped in front of them with a huge smile on his face.

"Now, now... You two can't leave!" the flamboyant farmer scolded, shaking a finger at them. "The festivities aren't over yet!"

Klaus groaned and let go of Avery's hand, sending an apologetic look her way. The poor girl looked utterly confused, but he knew that soon she would become aware of exactly what Marian – and Giorgio, by the looks of it – was up to.

"Our runners-up this year for Music Festival Sweethearts are... Iris and Otmar!" Marian announced, clapping for the odd couple. "You two looked so darling out there together!"

The rest of the townspeople also clapped, and Iris gave a small curtsey while Otmar simply beamed with pride. Klaus searched the crowd for Gunther and Coronoa, who had won the past two years in a row, and silently said a prayer to the Goddess that Marian would keep their winning streak going strong.

"And now, for this year's Music Festival Sweethearts..." Marian paused for dramatic effect, his eyes jumping from Mistel and Maria to Raeger and Melanie, and then finally settling on the carpenter and his wife. Klaus let out a relieved sigh.

"Klaus and Avery!" Marian cried out excitedly, his attention suddenly shifting to them, and Klaus clenched his jaw in annoyance. Behind him, he heard Giorgio chuckling as he pushed the two of them toward the stage.

"What... I don't get it..." Avery said, looking around at all the others, who were clapping, cheering, and – in at least one case – whistling at them.

"It has been decided by the Beautiful Dreamer Alliance that the two of you were the best-looking, most romantic couple during the Sweethearts Dance," Giorgio explained to her, guiding them up onto the stage to stand with Marian, who handed each of them a bouquet of roses.

"We're not a couple, though," Avery pointed out before Klaus had the chance to do so.

"Oh?" Giorgio said, feigning disbelief. "Well, no matter. Iris and Otmar aren't technically a couple, either, after all."

"Well, then," she said, looking to Klaus and smiling. "Perhaps we should just gracefully accept our win?"

Klaus smiled a little and raised her hand to bestow a kiss upon the back of it, eliciting another round of applause from the crowd. They then took a bow before heading off the stage and going their separate ways. Avery went over to Raeger, who was talking to Lillie with Melanie still clinging to one of his hands, and he joined Iris and her brother. He didn't hear much of the conversation around him, though, as his attention was fully focused upon Avery while she chatted and laughed animatedly with her friends.

He'd chew Marian out for this obvious setup another day. For now, he was content to just see her smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who might be curious, I had the Fall Night Theme from Harvest Moon: Animal Parade in mind for the song during the Sweethearts Dance.


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five  
**

Klaus paced around his home, running a mental checklist in the back of his mind. He'd completed his work early, but something was still nagging at him. He felt as though he had left something unfinished, which was a feeling he never liked having. Stopping next to his work station, he surveyed everything once more and found nothing out of place, then checked his pocket watch. Avery would be arriving any minute.

"It's just nerves," he said to himself, tucking the watch away once more into the front pocket of his waistcoat. "You only _think_ you've forgotten something because you're a nervous wreck over this date."

It wasn't really a date, but it was the closest thing to an actual date they had agreed to go on, and the first outing resembling a date he'd had in over eight years. The entire thing had been her idea, inspired by him mentioning he'd been fond of horseback riding when he was in college during her most recent visit for coffee.

They had been having their 'coffee socials' – as Marian had dubbed them – for three weeks, now. Twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, she would stop by after finishing her chores at the farm and whatever trading she needed to do and the two of them would talk over coffee and snacks. He'd avoided talking about himself as much as possible, fearful for what she would think of him if he divulged the darker parts of his past to her, but she'd managed to drag out a few details of his earlier life. Mostly, she'd been interested in how he and Marian had become friends. Admittedly, they were an odd pairing, so he'd been happy to tell her the story of how their friendship had blossomed after Marian had tried – and failed – to pick him up at the campus bar.

He'd learned a lot about her, though, during their talks. Her favorite color was purple. She loved blueberries. Her mother was a horrible cook when she was little, but took lessons to get better at it once her father fell ill and was now practically a gourmet chef – though she claimed Raeger was still better. Her father had nearly died from a stroke when she was six years old. Thankfully, he survived and with treatment was able to make a decent recovery, but he was forced to give up the family farm as he could no longer work the land on his own. Her mother, while not as well-known as some other artists, was very successful in selling her paintings and Avery had grown up wanting for nothing. Her tastes were simple, though, and she'd missed living the quiet country life she remembered from her early years. That was why, when she saw the advertisement in the city paper looking for potential farmers to move to Oak Tree Town, she'd jumped at the chance and immediately sent in her application.

He was glad she did, and told her as much. She'd smiled and blushed at his remark, and he had immediately apologized for his forwardness – which she, in turn, quickly reprimanded him for. He'd tried to explain away the comment, saying that he was simply glad that she had turned out to be so good for the town, contributing to its growth the way she had along with the other farmers... but he wasn't entirely sure she bought it. From that day forward, he had been excessively careful in choosing his words with her, not wanting to end up in another position like the one they'd been in when he attempted to warn her of Raeger's intentions.

A knock sounded on his door, and he knew it was her. Three soft, rapid taps... so familiar he didn't even need to look out his window any more to see who was there. He rushed to his mirror and looked himself over, making sure his cravat was properly tied and his hair wasn't _too_ much of a mess. The ends were starting to get in his eyes, and he made a mental note to get a haircut as soon as possible. Avery's knock sounded once more, and he closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath as he cursed himself for acting like a nervous teenager about to go on his first date. He was a grown man, and this was _not_ a date. It was a casual outing between two friends.

With a final deep breath to steel his nerves, he went to open the door. Avery had her hand raised, ready to knock for a third time, and he flashed an apologetic smile at her slightly concerned look.

"Sorry, I lost track of the time," he told her, though it was only partly true. He really had lost track of time earlier, while he'd been working, but it hadn't taken him very long to get ready.

"It's okay," she assured him with a shake of her head. "Are you ready?"

Klaus nodded and stepped outside of his home, making sure the door was properly shut behind him, then turned back to her and took her appearance in more fully. She was wearing an entirely new outfit he hadn't yet seen her in: a pair of orange shorts with a dark green vest, and beneath that a pale yellow shirt with three-quarter length sleeves. Long brown socks completed the ensemble, coming up to her mid-thigh and leaving just enough of her leg exposed to be tantalizing.

"I borrowed a horse from Asche, so we'll have to have it back before she needs to leave this evening."

Klaus tore his eyes away from her legs and looked to her face blankly for a moment before nodding his head and turning toward where the animal in question was. Standing next to Avery's dark brown stallion was a slightly larger white horse. He chuckled a bit as they made their way over to the horses, earning himself a confused look.

"A white horse, eh?" he asked her, stopping to pat the creature on the side of its neck. "I'm not exactly a prince, you know."

"It was the only one she had," Avery said, her cheeks flushing. Maybe the color hadn't been an intentional choice, but he knew now that she was going to have a mental image on her mind for the rest of the day. He wasn't sure if he should do his best to attempt to live up to that image or if even putting it there in the first place had been a very bad idea.

"So what's the plan?" he wondered, watching her mount Pinot before getting onto his princely steed.

"I figured we could just ride around up on the mountain trails for a bit, then maybe stop near the spring for a picnic?"

"Sounds good," he agreed with a nod of his head, gently prodding the horse toward the direction of the path leading out of town. He turned back to her, then, and flashed a mischievous grin.

"Meet you there?" he asked her, and waited for her nod.

With that, he urged the horse into a gallop and took off, laughing at the sound of her exasperated cry for him to wait up for her.

 

* * *

 

Avery handed Klaus a glass of wine and willed herself not to blush when his hand brushed against hers as he took it from her, then simply nodded when he graciously thanked her. She then poured some for herself and settled down on the blanket she'd laid out upon the ground, checking over her shoulder to be sure the horses were still grazing nearby.

"I think I know now why you decided to name your horse Pinot," Klaus remarked after taking a sip of the dark, red wine. "This is an excellent vintage."

"Thank you, but I didn't select it," she informed him, the color finally rising in her cheeks. "My mother did. She and my father sent me a care package for my birthday. You're not far off on the connection, though."

"Oh?" he asked, looking at her from over the rim of his wineglass. Avery stared quietly at him for a moment. He was lounging on his side, and Raeger's words from before kept running themselves over and over in her mind.

_'Hold him down and ride him like a horse...'_

She reached out and picked up one of the cucumber sandwiches she had brought along, then took a bite of it to keep her mouth occupied so she wouldn't do something stupid – like lean over and kiss him. She wanted to... the Goddess knew she did... but after how he'd avoided her when _he_ nearly kissed _her_ , she was too afraid of what sort of repercussions there would be should she be so bold to make the first move.

"So what's the real reason for the name, then?" he prompted, and she quickly swallowed to answer his question.

"I'm not really here in Oak Tree Town to be a farmer," she told him, causing him to sit up a bit in surprise. Avery shook her head and took a sip of her wine, then continued with her explanation.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on industrializing the land or anything like that, it's just... Veggies pay the bills, but I have a dream I'm here to hopefully realize."

"And that dream involves wine?" Klaus wondered, raising his glass for emphasis. Avery nodded.

"My mother took me to my first wine tasting when I was thirteen. I wasn't allowed to drink any of it, though. Okay, so... she _did_ let me try a sip of her favorite, but... Anyway, I just fell in love with it. The vineyard, the process... I don't know, but ever since then I've always wanted to run my own winery."

"Well, that _is_ one thing the town is lacking," Klaus mused. "And I doubt you'd hear much complaint from the residents. I know I wouldn't mind being able to get a good wine without having to go into the city, and I'm sure Iris and Giorgio would agree. Raeger would probably like being able to get locally-sourced wines for his cooking and to serve with meals at the restaurant, too."

"Exactly!" Avery agreed, smiling. "But, yes... My love of the wine-making process and my dream of being a vintner are why I chose to name my horse Pinot."

Silence fell over them and Klaus reached over to retrieve one of the sandwiches she had brought. The back of his hand brushed against her knee, and he muttered an apology, which she dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"You know, you're only the second person I've told about my dream," she admitted. "Aside from my parents, I mean."

"Really?" Klaus said, his eyebrows going up slightly in surprise. "Who is the other person?"

"Madam Eda," she told him, and Klaus smiled.

"Of course. Old Miss Eda is the sort of person everyone just naturally feels comfortable around. How is she doing, by the way?"

"Better," Avery said with a slight nod. "She even came by yesterday to see how I'm doing and take a short tour of my farm."

"That's good," Klaus replied with a smile, and another silence descended upon them.

"Why did you decide to become a perfumer?" Avery suddenly asked, deciding to turn the tables on him. Klaus pushed himself up into a sitting position and grabbed the bottle of wine, topping off his glass.

"It's not that interesting, really. I was a bored student who discovered he had a unique talent."

"Oh, come on," Avery pried. "There has to be more to it than that. You're so passionate about it, it can't just be something you fell into."

"It really is that mundane a story," Klaus insisted, chuckling. "I discovered, entirely by accident, that I have an unusually good sense of smell. I could pick out every single note in any perfume from a single sample. I do enjoy my work, though, and there's a distinct reason for that."

"Why is that?"

"Smell is one of the greatest invokers of memory there is," Klaus told her, settling back down with his wine. "Take this example: Think of something your mother used to make to eat that you loved as a child."

"I told you, my mother couldn't cook when I was little!" Avery reminded him, laughing.

"Surely she could make pancakes?" Klaus wondered, and Avery nodded hesitantly. "Didn't she ever make them for you?"

"She _tried_... every Saturday. They often ended up burned to the point they were practically inedible, but sometimes she made good ones."

"Okay, so... What do you think of whenever you smell pancakes?" he asked her.

"I... think of home. And sitting in front of our old television, watching cartoons," she said, her eyes starting to mist over as she thought about how hard her mother always tried to make her a perfect plate of pancakes on Saturday mornings, especially after they had been forced to move into the city where she had no friends to play with on the weekends.

"That's why I enjoy my job," Klaus told her. "To be able to bring out a memory for someone with one of my scents makes it all worth the work. I once had an elderly woman tell me that a cologne I designed reminded her of her late husband and all the happy years they had together. That was when I knew I'd chosen the right calling."

"That's a wonderful story," Avery said with a smile. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by the sudden sound of distant thunder.

"Did you check the weather for today?" Klaus wondered, and they both looked up to find the sky suddenly much darker than it had been a moment ago.

"I didn't think I would need to. It's been beautiful all season."

The sky seemed to suddenly split open and a cold rain began to pour down onto them. Avery squealed as she quickly jumped to her feet and tossed their food and the bottle of wine into the picnic basket she'd brought along. She head Klaus calling to the horses and looked up from where she was attempting to shove the blanket back into the basket to find him rounding them up and leading them over to where several large trees were creating a natural overhang that would at least shield them somewhat from the downpour.

"Got everything?" he asked when she finally joined him, running a hand back through his dark hair, which was plastered to the top of his head and had gotten into his eyes. Avery nodded, then hissed as a shiver ran through her body. She looked out at the storm, wondering how long they would be stranded, then felt a warm weight upon her shoulders and looked back to Klaus to find him placing his coat around her.

"You're shivering," he pointed out, and she realized that her teeth were chattering. She thanked him and pulled the coat around her, holding it closed with one hand.

"What about you, though?" she asked, watching as the rainwater quickly soaked through his white shirt.

"I'll be fine," he assured her with a smile, running a hand back over her hair. Avery's eyes fell closed and she let out a soft sigh, saying a silent prayer that he wouldn't pull away from her. To her dismay, he did just that, releasing her and turning around to look out at the rain.

Avery's grip tightened on the coat wrapped around her and the basket in her hand. She wanted to scream at him to just kiss her, but she couldn't. Her fear of driving him away trumped her desire for him. Licking her lips, she turned to him to ask if he thought they should make a break for her farm, which was just up the hill. Her words died in her mouth at the sight of him, though.

Klaus was standing with his eyes closed, holding his face up to the rain, his expression unreadable. He had reached up to grasp a low-hanging branch with both hands, and his grip seemed to be as tight as her own. Perhaps he was waging the same internal war she was. Avery bit her lip and weighed her options. She could confess her feelings for him, or simply keep her mouth shut. The problem with confessing now, of all times, was that if he didn't feel the same way she would still be stuck with him there until the storm subsided. Taking a deep breath, she finally made her decision... then stopped short when she noticed something new about him.

"What's this?" she asked, reaching up to his right shoulder. Visible through his soaked shirt was some sort of dark mark, partially hidden by his waistcoat. Klaus quickly pulled away from her touch and turned toward her, leaving her hand poised in mid-air.

"Was that... a tattoo?" Avery wondered, a smile slowly spreading across her lips. Klaus swore under his breath and he fidgeted with his waistcoat, avoiding her gaze.

"It _was_ , wasn't it? You have a tattoo!"

"Yes, fine... I have a tattoo," Klaus finally admitted. "A permanent reminder of my rebellious youth."

"What is it?" Avery asked, reaching up toward his shirt collar. "Come on, I want to see it!"

Klaus chuckled and grasped her eager hand in his. "You want me to strip off my shirt in the middle of a rain storm just so you can see my tattoo?"

"Yes?" Avery said sheepishly, though she was still smiling.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to kill me."

" _Kill_ you?!" she gasped, pulling her hand from his and shaking her head. "No, of course not! Why would you even say that?"

"You want me to take off my shirt during a cold autumn rain," Klaus pointed out, smirking. "I could catch a cold, or pneumonia... then you'd feel guilty, wouldn't you?"

"Okay, fair point," Avery agreed. "But I still want to see it."

"Or maybe you just want to get me naked," Klaus teased her, then suddenly went wide-eyed when he realized what he'd said.

"I'm so sorry, Avery," he immediately apologized. "I've let my lips get too loose once again."

"Klaus."

Avery waited until he finally looked at her and then reached up and grasped him by the golden silk cravat around his neck, then pulled him closer to her. She expected him to pull away, but was pleasantly surprised when he simply allowed himself to be drawn in.

"Don't apologize," she told him, and she watched his expression shift from guilt to relief to what she could never mistake as anything but desire.

Klaus reached up with one hand and gently pushed her soaked hair back, then caressed the side of her face as his eyes searched hers. Avery held her breath, careful not to give him any reason to think she didn't want this. He cautiously took another step closer to her, forcing her to tilt her head back slightly to avoid breaking eye contact, and as he finally leaned closer to her she allowed a soft sigh to escape her lips as her eyes fell closed.

"Hey!"

His lips had barely come into contact with hers when he suddenly pulled away and backed off considerably. Avery opened her eyes, her lips still slightly parted, and looked in the direction of the voice that had called out to them and cost her what she'd been wanting since practically the first day she'd moved in to Oak Tree Town. Agate was running toward them, holding her hat in place, her clothes soaked through. Normally, Avery enjoyed the young woman's company and the two often shared stories about the various townspeople when traveling to and from the safari, but right now she wanted nothing more than for the animal enthusiast to jump into the nearby spring.

"Did you two get caught in this storm, too?" she asked as she joined them under the trees, and Avery wanted to scream at her.

"Is it that obvious?" Klaus replied, his tone more sarcastic than Avery had ever heard him, and she suddenly realized he was just as upset that they had been interrupted as she was. At least, that was what she thought until she caught his eye and saw the guilt had returned to his expression.

"Here," she said, shrugging off his coat and handing it back to him. He tried to stop her, but she insisted he take it back. Once he finally took it from her and put it back on, she went over to Pinot and began to lead him out from their makeshift shelter.

"Where are you going?" Klaus asked her, reaching up to grasp the horse's bridle to stop her on the way by, his tone stern.

"My farm is right up the hill," she reminded him. "I'm going home."

"What about this other horse?" he wondered, gesturing to the white horse he'd been riding.

"Just make sure it gets back to Asche before she has to leave at the end of the day," Avery told him, stepping into the stirrup and mounting her horse without looking at him.

"But..."

"Thank you for this afternoon, Klaus," she cut off his protest, then nudged Pinot to get him going of in the direction of her farm before he could say anything else.

She'd had enough for one day. She was so frustrated she wanted to cry. She wanted him, he wanted her... That much was obvious by the look in his eyes when he'd almost kissed her.

So what was damn the problem?


	7. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILER ALERT! If you have not played Story of Seasons to the completion of the first year, this chapter will spoil a MAJOR event for you. Continue reading at your own risk.

**Chapter Six**

Avery woke up to the sound of incessant knocking on her door. It was still fully dark outside, and she grumbled as she dragged herself from underneath the warm covers of her bed. It was the first day of winter, and she had gone to bed early so she could get enough sleep in order to be able to get in all of the planting she needed to do by a reasonable hour. Whoever it was had better have a good reason for waking her.

"Avery! Wake up!" she heard Veronica's voice calling from the other side of the door, and she was suddenly wide awake. The guildmaster sounded panicked, and Avery quickly threw on a robe over her nightgown and stepped into her slippers, then rushed to open the door.

"What's wrong?" she asked, taking in the older woman's appearance. She was usually so put-together and looked young for her age, but at that moment appeared every bit as old as she really was, with dark circles under her eyes.

"It's Madam Eda," Veronica simply said, and Avery felt her heart sink. She'd been so hopeful since the elderly woman's visit to her farm that she was getting better, but it seemed that hope was misplaced.

"She's asking for you."

Veronica took her hand and Avery simply nodded and stepped outside, closing the door behind her. She doubted she had time to get dressed, so she merely allowed herself to be led next door to the small house where Eda lived. She looked around at the farm as they walked there, and Avery recalled her first week living in Oak Tree Town and how the kindly old woman had taught her everything she needed to know.

"I've brought her," Veronica announced as she ushered Avery in through the front door of the house, and Marian walked up to them and took her hand to lead her toward Eda's bedroom.

"She doesn't have long, sweetie," the doctor told her.

"Is she in pain?" Avery asked, glancing into the room. Otmar was sitting at Eda's bedside, his head hung low as he held one of her hands.

"No, but... Any comfort you might be able to offer her in her final moments would be appreciated."

Avery nodded slightly and Marian squeezed her shoulder, then escorted her into the room. Otmar immediately stood and offered Avery his chair, and she gave the old man a small smile as she thanked him and took a seat.

"Veronica, dear, would you stay here for a moment?" Eda asked as the others started to file out of the room, and the guildmaster turned back with a nod.

"Of course, Madam Eda, but I thought you wanted to speak to Avery alone?"

"In a moment. First, I need you to take care of something for me."

"Anything," Veronica said, kneeling next to where Avery was sitting and taking the old woman's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"When I am gone, I want Avery here to inherit my farm," Eda announced, and Avery's eyes went wide.

"What?" she gasped in disbelief, then shook her head. "I... No... I couldn't possibly. This farm... it should stay in your family."

"My son has no interest in the life of a farmer," Eda reminded her with a small smile.

"But... Your grandson! You said he enjoyed visiting you, before," Avery protested.

"He has a family of his own, now," Eda replied. "I want _you_ to have it, Avery. For your dream."

Avery closed her eyes and drew in a slow, shaky breath. The old woman was dying, and all she was concerned with was Avery realizing her dream. She couldn't deny a request like that.

"Very well," she agreed after a moment, opening her eyes and smiling at Eda. "I would be honored to accept your farm as my own."

"I'll see to it that everything is taken care of," Veronica assured them, then stood and left the room.

Avery sat quietly at Eda's bedside, unsure what to say. Eda weakly raised her hand off the bed and touched her cheek, startling her a bit, and she reached up to hold that small, frail and in her own.

"I have one more thing to ask of you, my dear," Eda told her. Avery simply nodded, biting her lip to keep from crying.

"When you first came here, I thought you and Fritz would make a lovely couple. You're both young, and you were both just starting out as farmers... I figured it would be a perfect match. I was wrong, and I'm sorry for trying to force him upon you."

"You didn't force him upon me," Avery assured her, shaking her head.

"I know you and Klaus have become close," Eda told her with a smile. "Otmar told me how you two were named the Music Festival Sweethearts. I wish I could have been there to see it."

Avery nodded, but said nothing. Her frustration level with him was still high from their recent outing and his consistent reluctance to give in to whatever he was feeling for her.

"I've known Klaus since he was a boy," Eda continued, taking Avery by surprise. "His house once belonged to his parents, and he lived there until he left home at sixteen."

"I didn't know that."

Eda nodded slightly. "He was a troubled boy... Angry, violent... His father was a strict man. They clashed often, until one day he'd had enough and simply left for the city. Both of his parents died three years later, and I honestly expected that house would remain empty forever. But then he came back."

She fell silent, and Avery held her breath, wondering if she had already passed on. After a moment, she took a shaky breath and continued with her story.

"It was about... eight or nine years ago, that he returned. At first, I didn't know it was him. I'd thought someone else had bought the house. He had changed so much from the last time I'd seen him prior to that. He had grown into a fine man, with a kind heart. He convinced Marian to come here when our old doctor retired and moved away. But since he returned he's always had this... sadness in him. I think... something happened to him, in the city, and that's why he came back here. To escape it."

"What does this have to do with me?" Avery wondered. She hated to seem impatient, but she knew Eda didn't have much time and she was curious what this other favor was the other woman wanted to ask of her.

"Even before I became too weak to make the journeys into town, I had seen the way he looks at you. It's the same way my husband looked at me before we started courting. He has a longing in his heart. But I think... I think he's afraid that, because of his past, you won't be able to accept him and love him."

"But I _do_ love him," Avery said, taking herself by surprise. She'd never admitted those feelings to anyone before, not even herself.

Eda smiled. "Then promise me, Avery, that you will give him the love he deserves. He's made some mistakes, but he shouldn't be so sad and alone. You both deserve to have as rich and fulfilling a life as I have had, and a family is one of the most important parts of that."

"I know," Avery told her, thinking of how much her own family meant to her.

"Then... Promise me?" Eda repeated her request, her voice barely audible.

Avery reached for her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "I promise, Eda."

"Thank you..."

She closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath and Avery held hers, her eyes carefully observing the old woman. Her chest was no longer rising and falling, and so she placed her head upon it to listen for a heartbeat. There was none. Choking back a sob, she stood from her chair and leaned over to place a kiss on Eda's forehead, then returned to the kitchen, where the others were seated around the table, looking grim.

"Avery?" Marian was the first to notice her, and he rose from his seat and went right to her.

"She's gone," Avery managed to say before finally breaking down in tears. Marian pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, stroking her hair and whispering comforting words to her. Nearby, she could hear Otmar crying and Veronica offering the same sort of comfort to him.

Madam Eda was gone. Avery was to inherit her farmstead, and she had promised to love Klaus and give him a family.

She only hoped she would be able to make Eda's final wish come true.

 

* * *

 

Klaus looked around at the crowd that had gathered in the middle of town. Jonas had come banging on his door early in the morning, announcing that there was to be a town meeting in an hour just outside the guild hall. He was curious what was so important, but when he saw Avery standing next to Veronica and Marian at the head of the crowd he somehow knew what was coming.

"Everyone," Veronica said loudly, then waited for all of the townspeople to turn their attention to her before continuing. "It saddens me greatly to announce that Madam Eda passed on this morning."

A collective gasp rose from most of the residents. Everyone knew Eda was getting on in years, but she had been such a fixture in the town for so long that none of them were truly prepared for this news. Klaus fondly remembered her as the old woman who would scold him in the presence of his father whenever he misbehaved as a boy – and then give him sweets when his back was turned.

"It was Eda's wish that her farm be given to Avery, so that the next generation of promising farmers can continue to work the land."

Klaus looked to Avery and his heart broke. She was barely holding herself together, and he had a feeling that if it wasn't for Marian standing next to her, constantly rubbing her back, she would be a sobbing mess on the ground. He barely heard anything else Veronica had to say. All he wanted to do was make his way through the crowd, walk up to her, take her in his arms and kiss away her sadness. He knew, though, that he would have to keep his distance from her more now than ever before. She was emotionally vulnerable, and if he made his move now it would be seen as him taking advantage of her. He didn't want her to believe him to be that sort of man. So he would wait until she had finished grieving, and then... Perhaps he would finish what they had started in that rain storm.

The crowd slowly began to disperse, and Klaus watched as two men approached Avery: Fritz and Raeger. Her fellow farmer looked equally saddened by the news, and Klaus recalled that he'd affectionately referred to Eda as 'Granny.' Avery hugged him tightly as his shoulders began to tremble from crying, and Raeger enveloped both of them in his arms and placed a kiss on the top of Avery's head.

He had forgotten that, only a few years ago, Raeger had lost his own grandfather, and his mother two years prior to that. Surely, the chef knew exactly what the two young farmers were going through. Though Eda hadn't been their blood, they had both been taken under her wing and both of them had grown close to her as a result. Klaus briefly wished he'd had that sort of bond with his own parents, but quickly shook away that feeling. He'd spent enough time dwelling upon the regrets he had regarding his family when he learned his parents had both died in an accident while traveling when he was in his second year of college. It did no good for him to dredge up those memories.

"You should spend some time with her."

He turned to Marian briefly, then looked back to Avery and her friends and slowly shook his head.

"She needs to be with people who understand what she's going through right now."

"She needs to be with people who _care about her_ right now," Marian argued. "And I think she really needs _you_."

"Why me?" Klaus wondered, finally tearing his gaze away from the scene before them. Marian hesitated, looking guilty for a moment before finally speaking.

"I... overheard some of what Eda said to Avery in her final moments," he admitted, earning a glare of disapproval from Klaus. "I wasn't eavesdropping, I just looked in to see how things were going. But, anyway... Your name was mentioned."

"By Avery?"

"By Eda," Marian corrected.

Klaus began to shift uncomfortably on his feet. What had the old woman said to her about him? Had she warned Avery about him and told her to stay away? He hadn't exactly been a model citizen prior to when he ran away, but ever since he'd come back to town he'd done everything in his power to make up for his behavior as a teenager.

"That doesn't mean she needs me," he said, shaking his head.

"She does, Klaus," Marian insisted. "Out of everyone in town, I'm certain you're the only person who will give her the comfort she needs."

"And by 'comfort,' you mean...?" Klaus wondered, raising an eyebrow. Marian chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder.

"That's an idea, but not exactly what I was getting at, this time," he said, smiling a moment longer before his expression once more turned serious. "No... I think she just needs someone to hold her and tell her things are going to be all right."

"Raeger can do that."

"Raeger would default to that _other_ sort of comforting we were just discussing," Marian reminded him. "Do you really want that to happen?"

Klaus tensed at the very notion that Raeger would take advantage of Avery's grief for his own benefit, but he knew Marian was right. He'd been guilty of the same crime on a few occasions, himself. Shaking his head, he looked to where Avery had been standing with Raeger and Fritz, and found the three of them had already departed.

"Go," Marian urged him. Klaus hesitated a moment, then took off in the direction of the road leading out of town and into the mountains. Agate stopped him as he was about to begin the trek to Avery's farm, and asked him to let her know that she would look after the animals for her that day and for as long as she needed. Klaus thanked her for her kind offer and suggested she do the same for Fritz, which she assured him she had already done.

Once she had left, Klaus remained standing in the spot, staring at the small footbridge that led over the nearby river to the land shared by Fritz and Giorgio. He wasn't sure if it would be too forward, but he knew it was customary to bring something to the bereaved when paying a visit and he thought that, perhaps, some flowers would help to brighten Avery's mood. Before he could talk himself out of it, he crossed the bridge and made his way to Giorgio's farm.

The flamboyant farmer was surprised to see him, but welcomed him in with a smile. Klaus explained the purpose for his visit, and Giorgio immediately set to work gathering together a bouquet of white roses. Klaus asked if he had any lilies left, knowing they thrived best in the summer, and luckily he did. He was about to add some other items for color when Klaus stopped him.

"No lavender," he said, reaching out to place a hand over the vase holding sprigs of the purple plant. Giorgio pouted a bit but refrained from using the lavender, and instead tied the pure white bouquet with a purple ribbon before handing it over.

"What do I owe you?" Klaus wondered, reaching into his pocket.

"On the house," Giorgio insisted with a shake of his head. "Please, tell Avery I'm sorry for her loss and that we'll all miss Madam Eda."

Klaus nodded and thanked him, then finally set off to Avery's farm. He passed by Veronica and Gunther along the way, and overheard them talking about erecting some sort of memorial in Eda's honor on her land. It was a lovely idea, and he was sure Avery wouldn't mind. They all shared a polite hello, but otherwise didn't stop to converse with one another, and soon Klaus found himself before Avery's door. He knocked and, as he waited for her to answer, looked around at her farm. It was his first time there, despite the two of them having spent as much time as they had together, and he was impressed by what she had accomplished in less than a year. The field was mostly bare, as it was the beginning of the season, but she had planted two rows of various fruit trees just outside her front door. Two barns were nearby – most likely one for her cows and another for sheep – and on the other side of the house was a small coop for chickens and rabbits and a second, slightly larger building bearing a sign with the phrase 'Beware of Cat' above the door.

"Hey, Klaus."

Klaus blinked in surprise when Raeger opened the door, wiping off his hands on a dish towel. The younger man stepped aside and nodded toward the interior of the house, and Klaus hesitated before entering.

"She's over on the bed," Raeger informed him, closing the door and returning to the kitchen, where he had several different types of vegetables laid out on a cutting board.

Klaus looked over to the bed on the other side of the room. Sure enough, Avery was sitting there with her legs crossed, holding what appeared to be a bowl of oatmeal with fruit. She was sullenly stirring the contents of the bowl, occasionally lifting a spoonful and letting it drop back into the bowl, but not eating any of it. Klaus slowly approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, finally noticing his presence in her home, and he knelt next to her and wordlessly handed her the bouquet of flowers. She set aside her bowl and took the flowers from him, smiling weakly as she thanked him, and he sat next to her on the bed.

"You need to eat, Avery," Raeger called from the kitchen, having seen her put the bowl on the bedside table.

"I'm not hungry," she argued, holding the flowers up and inhaling their sweet scent.

Raeger sighed. "Klaus, talk some sense into her. I know she's grieving, but she needs to keep her strength up."

"He's right," Klaus agreed. "You really should eat something."

" _I'm not hungry_ ," Avery repeated, her eyes flashing angrily as she looked from Klaus to Raeger and back. "So back off!"

"How are you going to take care of your animals on an empty stomach?" Raeger asked her.

"Agate offered to take care of them for her for as long as she needs," Klaus informed them, and Raeger glared at him.

"Thanks, Klaus," he muttered sarcastically, returning to preparing the meal he was making.

The three of them remained silent after that, and Klaus simply watched Avery enjoy her flowers while Raeger continued chopping vegetables and throwing them into a pot. After a bit, he reached out and tucked some of her hair behind her ear, and she raised her gaze to his. Her eyes were a bit puffy and bloodshot from crying, and there were circles under them like she hadn't slept well the previous night.

"Okay," Raeger finally said, sighing as he placed a lid on top of the pot he'd been filling. "I'm going to put this stew in the fridge. All you need to do is put the pot on the stove and heat it up when you're ready to eat, okay?"

Avery nodded and turned on her bed, looking over to him. "Thank you, Raeger."

"I gotta take care of my favorite girl, right?" Raeger replied, flashing a grin over his shoulder as he placed the pot of stew in her refrigerator. Klaus' jaw tightened slightly at the remark, and when Raeger came over to the bed and bent down to kiss her cheek – a gesture which Avery returned – he felt his heart sink.

"I'm going to head over to Fritz's place, now, and cook up something for him," the chef informed them, though Klaus knew it was mostly directed toward her. "If you need me, just come over. I'm sure he won't mind the extra company right now."

"Okay," Avery said, nodding.

"You'll be by the restaurant tomorrow?" he asked, and she nodded again. "Good. If you're not there by three o'clock, though, I'm going to come up here to check on you. Deal?"

"Deal," she agreed with a small chuckle.

Raeger said a quick goodbye to Klaus, then left the two of them alone in her house. As soon as the door had closed behind him, Klaus found himself set upon by the grieving girl sitting next to him on the bed. Avery had set her bouquet aside and thrown her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. It took him a moment to recover from the surprise caused by her actions, but he slowly wrapped his arms around her and held her close as she rested her head upon his shoulder and let out a shaky breath.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" he asked her, his voice just as quiet.

"For being here," she told him, tightly gripping the back of his coat. Klaus closed his eyes and nuzzled the top of her head, slowly breathing her in.

"It's not like you were alone. You have Raeger. I was actually surprised to see him here, to be honest," he admitted.

"He's not a bad person," Avery said, shaking her head slightly. "He's a pretty big pervert, but underneath all the flirting and innuendo there's a heart of gold."

"He's good to you," Klaus remarked, closing his eyes to hold back the sadness that was threatening to well up within him.

"He is," she agreed. "Despite the way he is, I think he really just wants someone to truly love him and not just want him for... you know."

Klaus silently nodded. He knew that feeling all too well. He hadn't been much older than Raeger when he finally decided he'd had enough of messing around and wanted something more substantial than a fling. Perhaps the younger man had also come to that realization, thanks to Avery.

With a heavy sigh, he pulled back slightly and pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead. He cared about her more than he would ever admit to another living soul, but he would let her go. He'd made too many mistakes, both in his past and ever since he'd met her. Maybe if he was a braver man, he could take her into his arms and kiss her right then and there. He would have to simply be content with seeing her happy and keeping himself to the big brother role he had originally intended to place himself in with her, though.

He released her and stood from the bed, but she grabbed his hand before he could move away.

"Where are you going?" she asked him, and he found her eyes were full of unshed tears.

"You should rest," he told her, reaching up with his free hand and brushing her hair back from her face once more.

"Stay with me," she pleaded, pulling him back toward her and the bed.

"Avery, I really shouldn't-"

"Please?" she cut off his protest. "Just until I fall asleep."

Klaus started at her silently for a moment, then sat back down on the side of her bed. Avery moved over and laid down, placing herself with her back to the wall, and patted the spot next to her.

"You want me to..?"

Avery nodded, and Klaus hesitated once more. Steeling himself, he stood from the side of her bed and she sat up slightly, her mouth open to protest, but he held up a hand to silence her and began to take off his coat. After carefully folding it over the back of one of the chairs at her dining table, he joined her on the bed and settled on his side so he was facing her. Avery reached for him and ran her hand over his chest, and he shifted a little closer to her, resting her hand upon her hip.

"Eda made me promise her something," she said, avoiding his gaze. "Right before she..."

"What was that?" he wondered, not really wanting to pry but thinking she simply needed to talk about what had happened in order to deal with her feelings.

"She left me her farm so that I could follow my dream."

Klaus smiled and raised his hand to her face, swiping his thumb across her cheek to catch a tear which had begun to fall.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," he told her.

"I don't really have enough saved yet for a proper winery," she protested, shaking her head.

"Start small," he suggested. "Talk to Gunther. I'm sure he could build you a simple press and some aging casks."

Avery nodded, then let out a shaky sigh. "I'm not really sure how to deal with this, Klaus."

"Death is never easy to deal with," he told her, running his hand slowly up and down her arm.

"I was there with her when she... I was the _last_ person to speak to her. I feel like it should have been someone else, like... I didn't deserve to be the last one to see her alive. I mean... Why me? Why not Fritz? She's known him longer. He needed her more, with him being an orphan and all."

Klaus took a slow breath and pondered her questions. He really couldn't speak for Eda, but she needed some sort of answers to help her cope.

"I think she probably saw something of herself in you," he finally said after a long silence. "Perhaps, to her, you were the daughter she never had. Leaving her farm to you was her way of keeping it in the family, as it were. Besides... I knew Madam Eda for a long time, and I'm pretty sure that when you told her about your dream you immediately made up her mind."

"You think so?" Avery wondered.

"She's always been a big-hearted woman, and did whatever she could to help people achieve their dreams. She helped Mistel set up his antiques shop, even though there wasn't really a demand for such a thing in town. She called in a favor to get Lillie the interview which led to her television career. And you didn't hear this from me, but... I have it on good authority that she had something to do with Veronica and her late husband finally getting together after knowing each other for most of their lives as nothing more than friends."

"She was quite the matchmaker, huh?" Avery asked, finally looking up at him. Klaus smiled a little and traced the outline of her face with his fingertips, then returned his hand to its original position on her hip.

"She was," he affirmed with a nod. "And she'll be missed greatly, but I'm sure she's still watching out for all of us, wherever she is right now."

"I hope so," she said quietly, sighing softly as her eyelids began to droop.

Klaus watched her as she slowly fell asleep, waiting until her breathing had evened out before daring to move. Shifting slowly on the bed so as not to jostle her awake, he leaned over her and placed a kiss upon her cheek, then gently rested his forehead against hers.

"Whatever happens," he quietly said to her, "wherever you go and whoever you end up with, I just want you to be happy. You deserve all the happiness in the world. I only wish I could be the one to give that to you."

He pulled away from her and got up from the bed, then retrieved his coat from where he had placed it and put it back on, his eyes never leaving her sleeping face. She looked like a perfect, innocent angel, lying there with her golden hair and fair skin. His heart ached as he looked at her, and he knew he could no longer deny what he felt.

"I love you, Avery," he whispered before left her home, making sure to lock the door so she wouldn't be disturbed.

 

* * *

 

Raeger let out a sigh and rolled his head back and forth as he dragged his tired ass back home. Since Klaus had shown up at Avery's house, he felt safe in leaving her there alone, but as a result he'd spent all damn day with Fritz, listening to him cry like a baby.

He understood. Really, he did. Fritz didn't have anybody before coming to Oak Tree Town. He was an orphan who drifted from job to job once he finished school, never quite finding his place until he answered the ad Veronica had placed in the city paper looking for farmers. Eda had trained him, just like she trained Avery when she first arrived, and the kindly old woman had quickly become a substitute for the family Fritz never had while growing up.

It still annoyed Raeger a bit that he'd had to act like such an overgrown baby about the whole thing, though. He could have at least shown a little dignity and _not_ blown his nose on his shirt sleeve repeatedly, or tried to calm down enough to the point where Raeger could actually _understand_ what he was going on about rather than having to try to decipher the jumbled mess of sobs and make an accurate guess as to what Fritz needed to hear.

They were friends, however, and just like he'd been there for Avery, Raeger had promised to be there for him. He was just glad that Fritz had finally fallen asleep so he could go home and get some rest. After all, he had to open the restaurant in less than ten hours, which meant he needed to be up in six to begin his usual prep work.

The door of the restaurant was finally in sight when he suddenly found himself grabbed from behind and dragged over to the outside wall of the building. He winced when his back hit the brick, and almost immediately an arm was pressed across his throat. Raeger struggled, reaching up with both hands to claw at the arm that was pressing just hard enough against his windpipe to make breathing painful – but not impossible – for him. He looked up at his attacker and his blue eyes went wide with shock.

" _Klaus_?!"

The older man's golden eyes were mere slits, his mouth set in a firm scowl, and Raeger felt even more panicked. Klaus had a good four or five inches on him and was solidly built under that dandy exterior of his. The man could easily kick his ass if he wanted to, though Raeger really had no idea what sort of problem he had with him.

"I am only going to say this once, Raeger, and I want you to listen well," Klaus said, his voice low and growling. He waited for Raeger's nod before continuing.

"I know _exactly_ what kind of man you are. I used to _be_ you. But that's why I also know that, sometimes, men like us can change."

Raeger's brow furrowed in confusion and he raised up on his toes, attempting to relieve some of the pressure on his windpipe.

"If you want Avery, you had better be thinking with your heart and not your dick," Klaus warned him, leaning in closer, his tone even more menacing. "Because I swear... if you break her heart, I will fucking kill you."

He suddenly stepped back, releasing Raeger but still glowering at the younger man as he slumped to the ground and struggled to pull air back into his lungs. After a moment he turned to walk away, but Rager wasn't about to let him have the last word.

"You asshole!" he called after Klaus, stopping him in his tracks. "Are you really _that stupid_?"

"What?" Klaus snapped, looking back over his shoulder.

"Or maybe it was a trade-off, eh? You get that uncanny sense of smell, but in exchange you're completely _blind_."

"What the hell are you on about, Raeger?" Klaus demanded, clenching his hands into fists at his sides.

"There is _nothing_ between me and Avery!" Raeger told him, pulling himself to his feet and leaning back against the wall. "Believe me, Klaus... If I wanted her, I'd have already had her by now."

Klaus turned fully toward him and Raeger smirked. That had gotten his attention.

"Stay away from her," Klaus threatened through clenched teeth, pointing a finger at him.

"Gladly," Raeger agreed. "She's in love with _you_ , anyway."

It filled him with a twisted sense of satisfaction to see the sudden shift in Klaus' demeanor upon hearing those words. The anger quickly faded to a completely dumbfounded look which made the perfumer look every bit the fool the younger man had just accused him of being. Raeger expected some sort of retort, or at the very least a denial that Avery could ever have feelings for him, but instead Klaus said nothing. He simply stood there quietly for a moment, then wearily ran a hand over his face and back through his hair before turning on his heel and walking away.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven  
**

"And here's where we'll put in your barrels," Gunther said, pointing to a spot on the blueprints he had lying on his dining room table. "I figure, with the room we'll have to work with... you'll probably only be able to get in two, though."

"That's fine," Avery told him as she looked the plans over. "As long as they're big enough, and made from oak."

"I'll make sure the manufacturer knows your preference."

"It's not a 'preference,' Gunther," Avery corrected him, shaking her head slightly as she looked at the carpenter. "The barrels _have_ to be made from oak or the wine won't be right. Tell whoever you're getting them from that I won't accept anything _but_ oak barrels."

"Understood," Gunther said, nodding and rolling up the blueprints. "So these look good for you, then?"

Avery nodded and Gunther held out the blueprints to her with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Good. Here, you can take these."

"Are you sure?" Avery asked him, hesitantly taking the blueprints from him.

"Yeah, I got another copy."

Avery thanked him and smiled, then gave him a kiss on the cheek for all of his help. Corona asked her to stay for cookies and tea, but Avery declined – though she eventually accepted one of the cookies the carpenter's wife offered her. She thanked them both once more and left the shop, grinning happily as she nibbled on the chocolate chip cookie while walking in the direction of Klaus' home.

The two of them hadn't seen each other since the day Eda passed away. She'd spent another day alone at her house dealing with her grief, aside from leaving briefly to make an appearance at Raeger's restaurant to keep him from worrying about her, and then thrown herself headlong into catching up on her planting and getting things put in order to begin the building of her starter winery. Gunther had been more than happy to oblige, though he'd seemed a little dismayed to hear how excited his wife was that they would finally be able to get wine in town.

The only other people she had seen in the past two weeks were Raeger and Fritz. After hearing from Raeger how depressed her fellow farmer was, she'd taken it upon herself to do whatever she could to make sure he didn't fall behind with his crops. They were rivals, but she knew that Fritz had been having a hard time getting the hang of life on the farm and sometimes could barely make ends meet. Agate was fully capable of handling the care of his animals, but she didn't know the first thing about plants and so Avery had stepped forward to fill that role. Essentially, she had created twice as much work for herself as she already had since she not only needed to tend to her own crops but the ones she'd planted for Fritz, but the way he'd looked when she visited him after she finished with her own planting for the season made her feel sorry for him and regret that she'd ever complained about the ways he'd tricked her into doing his work for him.

She wasn't the only person in town helping Fritz out, though. Raeger stopped by each day to cook for him. Marian had checked on him a few times to make sure he was taking care of himself, as well. Veronica stopped by once or twice to visit, along with Maurice – a detail Avery had not missed, though she didn't want to pry into their personal lives. Iris came by several times, offering him words of encouragement and telling him that he could come stay with her and Mistel for a while if he didn't want to be all alone at his farmhouse. Giorgio brought by fresh flowers every couple of days to try to brighten his mood, while Corona showered him with sweet treats. Melanie and Lutz stopped by once and attempted to get him to play with them the way he often did, but he hadn't been in the mood. Asche even made the trek to his farm to present him with a small bereavement gift, as was customary in her country, and also gave one to Avery. The gifts were simple woven baskets each containing tea, fruit, and a small statue. Asche explained the figure was a guardian given to those closest to the deceased, meant to help heal the heart following their loss. It was said to draw in the negative emotions associated with death through its open mouth and help restore happiness to those affected by the death. Once the bereavement period had passed, the statue was to be buried near the grave of their loved one as an offering to the god of the dead. It was a thoughtful gesture, and Avery had thanked the merchant for both of them, as hearing the purpose of the figure had caused Fritz to start crying again. Perhaps the most surprising visitor Fritz had received, though, had been Elise. She came by to offer her condolences, but Avery had a feeling that the only reason she had done so was because her staff had goaded her into it.

The only person Avery hadn't seen, not even in passing, had been Klaus – thought Fritz told her he'd stopped by a few times early in the morning before heading in to the city to see if there was anything he needed. It was just as well. She was having a bit of difficulty dealing with her feelings toward him. She had known for a while that she cared for him as more than just a friend, but admitting those feeling out loud to Eda had somehow made it all more real. She could no longer pretend it was just a crush, a fun little fantasy to pass away the time while she was at home, alone. She couldn't keep avoiding him forever, though.

He'd encouraged her to build a winery despite only having enough for a small starter operation, so it was only fitting she take the blueprints Gunther had given her to show him the plans he had helped her decide to go through with. Maybe she would even get up the courage to tell him how she truly felt about him, too. After all, it was Valentine's Day, and while she knew he didn't care for things like sweets a confession would be even more special. She doubted she'd be able to go through with it, though. She was fairly certain he had feelings for her, but that tiny little bit of doubt in the back of her mind kept nagging at her. She'd been rejected before, of course... and that had been less than fun. She had been young then, though, and her feelings back then were nothing compared to the way she cared about Klaus.

"You can do this," she quietly said to herself as she climbed the steps to the residential district of Oak Tree Town. "Just say, 'I like you. Will you go out with me?' Simple as that."

She paused when she reached Klaus' home and saw a pile of boxes neatly stacked outside his front door. They were likely gifts of Valentine's chocolates from his clients and whatever admirers he might have in the city, but what concerned her was the location of the packages. No matter how much he disliked sweets, Klaus would have graciously accepted the gifts. He never would have simply left them sitting on his front step. Perhaps they had been brought by some delivery service and left there in his absence... but no. It was a Tuesday. He should be home.

Something was amiss, and Avery started to feel panicked. She carefully stepped around the boxes and knocked on Klaus' front door, then waited a bit before knocking again. When a third knock failed to summon him or prompt any sort of verbal response from inside, she carefully leaned over and peered in through the window, thinking perhaps he was so absorbed in his work that he didn't notice her knocking.

What she saw made her blood run cold. Klaus was inside, lying face-down on the floor near his work station. She immediately tried to open the door to check on him, but was surprised to find it locked. Thinking quickly, she dropped the blueprints in her hand amongst the pile of packages on the step and ran next door to Marian's house. It was still early, so she knew he wouldn't be at the clinic just yet and, as the town's doctor, she also knew he had a copy of the key to every resident's house.

It wasn't far, and she was in good shape from her daily activities on the farm, but as she pounded relentlessly upon Marian's door she found herself gasping hard for breath. Her heart was racing, her mind a jumbled mess of negative thoughts, and when he answered she found she couldn't form any comprehensible words. She merely grasped Marian by the hand and began trying to pull him out through his front door.

"Avery, what the-?" the doctor wondered, hanging back.

"Klaus!" she finally managed to say, her voice a desperate sob. "Something's happened to Klaus! Hurry!"

Marian held up a single finger and twisted his wrist from her grasp, then turned back inside briefly and grabbed a key ring from just inside the door. He then rushed ahead of her and next door to Klaus' house and let them both in. Avery could barely breathe as she watched him kneel down and check Klaus' pulse, tears filling her eyes as she shook her head back and forth while watching the scene unfold before her.

"Please, no," she muttered, shutting her eyes tightly, her hands pressed together and held to her lips. "Please be okay... Don't you dare leave me now..."

"Avery!"

It took her a moment to realize that Marian had moved away from Klaus and was standing in front of her, his hands firmly upon her shoulders. She opened her eyes and looked at him, blinking a few times at how different he looked. She hadn't noticed before, due to her panic, but he wasn't wearing any makeup.

"It's okay, sweetie, just breathe," he instructed, demonstrating by breathing in slowly through his nose and then exhaling out through his mouth. Avery mimicked his actions, taking a few slow breaths before turning to look at Klaus on the floor once more.

"Is he..?"

"He's fine," Marian assured her. "Just unconscious. Probably overworked himself into exhaustion."

"How is that _fine_?" Avery snapped, wondering how a doctor could speak so nonchalantly about someone – especially a close friend – working themselves so hard they collapsed.

"This isn't the first time he's done this," Marian said, rolling his eyes a bit. "Klaus gets rather... focused this time of year. It's always his busiest, with the holidays coming up and dozens of orders all coming in at once, and he throws himself headlong into his work. I think he just uses it as way to try to forget that he's alone."

She looked back to Klaus for a moment and shook her head. "We can't just leave him there."

"I know," Marian agreed with a nod. "Go see if you can find someone to help you get him to the clinic. I'm going to go back home and get my things, then I'll meet you there."

Avery nodded, still staring at Klaus on the floor, and Marian grasped her chin gently in his hand and turned her back toward him.

"I promise, he's going to be okay," he assured her, and she nodded once more and offered him a weak smile.

"I'll go ask Gunther for his assistance," she told him, and he kissed her on the forehead, then left to return home. Avery continued to stare at Klaus a moment longer, then set out herself to find help.

 

* * *

 

Marian looked up from his paperwork when the door to the clinic opened, and smiled when he saw Avery standing in the doorway, holding a covered stoneware pot in her hands. He waved her in and stood from his desk, then went over to her and took the pot when she held it out to him.

"I made this for Klaus," she informed him, looking to the bed nearby, where the man in question was still lying, unconscious. "It's bouillabaisse. I was hoping he'd be awake by now, but..." She shrugged, hanging her head.

"He should be awake by morning, if not sooner," Marian assured her. "I'll make sure he gets this when he does wake up. I'm sure he hasn't been eating properly, either, so it's good you brought this by."

Avery nodded. "I also wanted to apologize for over-reacting earlier."

"It's okay, honey," Marian said, taking the pot over to Klaus' bedside table and setting it down. "You were worried. I understand."

"Seeing him there like that... it reminded me of when I was a little girl and I found my father lying on the floor of our barn," she explained, and Marian turned around to find her staring at Klaus with tears in her eyes. "He almost died, and Klaus... With what happened a couple of weeks ago, I don't think I could have handled losing someone else I care about so soon after that."

Marian went over to her and pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her back and rocking her slightly.

"I know, sweetie. Klaus is special to you, isn't he?" He waited for her nod to continue. "Have you told him how you feel about him?"

"No," Avery replied, pulling away from him and shaking her head. "I don't know if I can..."

"Why not?" Marian wondered, playing with her hair and tucking it back behind her ears in a motherly way.

"What if he doesn't feel the same way?" she asked him, her gaze moving to Klaus and lingering upon him. "I mean... I _think_ he does, but he's also given me some mixed signals before and I'm really not sure if he likes me like that or not."

"You'll never know unless you try," Marian told her, and Avery nodded, closing her eyes and letting out a heavy sigh.

"Well, I'd better let you get back to work," she said after a moment, gesturing toward the paperwork on his desk. "Please, when he wakes up, let him know I stopped by."

"I certainly will," Marian assured her, then returned her small wave as she left. He waited until the door had closed completely behind her, then turned toward Klaus' prone form in the bed.

"She's gone now," he announced. "You can stop faking."

Klaus sighed and sat up, keeping his eyes averted from Marian's judgmental gaze. The doctor pulled his chair from the desk over to the bedside and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are you quite satisfied with yourself, Klaus Meinard Albrecht?" he asked, causing Klaus to cringe at the use of his full name. "That girl nearly had a panic attack this morning when she found you. She was in such a state that she made me leave my house without my face on!"

"Oh, well... Goddess forbid you should have to _ever_ leave the house without your face on," Klaus remarked sarcastically, then flopped back down onto the bed and placed an arm over his eyes.

"Why haven't you told her how you feel about her?" Marian asked bluntly. "And don't give me any bullshit about how you think she should be with someone else. I don't see her getting so worked up she can barely breathe over anyone else in town, and she certainly never brought any of my other patients their favorite meal when they were in recovery."

"She should be with someone her own age," Klaus protested.

"You don't really believe that nonsense," Marian argued. "If you did, you never would have been with..."

His voice trailed off as something finally clicked in his mind.

"You dumb fuck!" he swore, rising angrily from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at him. " _That's_ what this is all about, isn't it?"

Klaus remained silent and unmoving, but Marian wasn't fooled. He knew his best friend was very much awake and could hear every word he said.

"You mean to tell me that, all this time, the reason you've been so dead set against pursuing something with Avery is because of what Rebecca did to you?"

"You remember what I was like after that, don't you?" Klaus asked, still refusing to look at him.

"Yeah, you were a depressed mess," Marian replied, hands on his hips. "I still don't see why you should be punishing that poor girl for what some manipulative slut did to you almost ten years ago."

Klaus sighed and finally sat back up, running both hands back through his hair and shaking his head before speaking.

"I can't go through that again, Marian," he said. "What if the same thing happens? What if this is just girlish infatuation and once she grows out of it and has had her fun she decides she's better off with someone else closer to her age?"

"You _cannot_ compare the two of them!" Marian yelled, waving his hands about in frustration. "The _only_ thing they have in common is that they're both younger than you."

"It's almost _twice_ the age difference," Klaus pointed out. "Rebecca was only eight years younger than me, Avery is fifteen."

"I doesn't matter!" Marian countered. "Avery _cares_ about you! She loves you and you're too blind to see it! Just like you were too blind to see that Rebecca was using you all along to further her damn modeling career."

"You knew?" Klaus accused him.

"Everyone knew," Marian confirmed. "You were pretty much the only person who _didn't_ know."

"Why didn't you say something to me?"

Marian closed his eyes and shook his head, letting out a weary sigh. "I had no idea you were that head over heels in love with her. I just... I guess I just figured the reason you stayed with her as long as you did was because the sex was so good. The last thing I expected you to do was _propose_ to her."

He sighed again and sat back down in his chair, and the two of them remained silent for a long time.

"I'm sorry," Marian finally apologized. "I should have told you. I'm your closest friend, and I failed you. But that's why I'm not going to let myself fail you again."

Klaus gave him a questioning look, and Marian leaned forward and took one of his hands and gave it and encouraging squeeze.

"You _need_ to get over this. Let go of the past, and tell Avery how you feel about her." Klaus opened his mouth and he held up a hand to silence him. "Let me finish. She sincerely loves you. I can see it, Raeger can see, I'm pretty sure most of the town can see it, and you know what... I'm sure _you_ see it, too, but you're just too damn scared to get hurt again and you refuse to acknowledge it."

"She deserves-"

"Don't you _dare_ say she deserves better, Klaus!" Marian cut him off. "You're the best man I know. Sure, you've made some mistakes in the past, but no one is perfect. You're still a kind, compassionate man who does everything in his power to protect those he cares about."

"It's not the right time," Klaus protested yet again, shaking his head. "I'm too busy right now, with the new fragrance launching and all the holiday orders... I could never devote the sort of time to her that she needs."

"Fine," Marian acquiesced. "Then wait until after the holidays, and _tell her how you feel_. But don't wait too long, Klaus, because if you do someone else is likely to step in."

"Like Raeger?"

"Maybe Fritz," Marian said with a shrug. "She's been spending a lot of time with him, helping him out with his farm since Eda died. I know the old gal was sort of hoping the two of them would end up together. If you ask me, though, she has no interest in him beyond friendship. It's _your_ sexy ass she wants in her bed."

Marian winked at him, and Klaus tried to hide a smile. He reached for the pot sitting on the table next to his bed and lifted the lid, then leaned over the contents and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of his favorite meal. His stomach let out an audible growl, and Marian laughed as he blushed.

"Got a spoon?" he asked, looking up at the doctor. Marian nodded and went to retrieve the requested utensil for him, thinking to himself that at least Avery had the whole 'getting to his heart through his stomach' thing down.

He only hoped his little pep talk would end up being enough to finally convince Klaus to let the past go and follow his heart.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight  
**

Avery stared at the blank piece of paper sitting before her on her kitchen table, her gaze occasionally jumping to one of the letters on either side. Her parents and her cousin had both written to wish her a happy new year, but she had no idea how to respond to either of them.

The letter to her left was from home, written in two different sets of handwriting. Her mother had congratulated her on her first successful year on the farm and and wished her the best of luck with her new winery, while her father had offered their condolences on the loss of Madam Eda and asked about her love life. The letter to her right had arrived just that morning from Echo Village, and in it her cousin had excitedly told her all about everything that had happened to her since the last time she wrote. Four words in particular had struck Avery especially hard, though.

' _Guess what? I'm engaged!'_

Avery wanted to be happy for her, but it was hard to get excited about an upcoming wedding while her own love life was such a mess.

She had only seen Klaus a handful of times following his stay in the clinic, and he hadn't been very talkative. He'd thanked her for helping him the first time they crossed paths again at the trade depot, and complimented her on her cooking abilities, but not much else passed between them after that aside from a cordial greeting. She tried not to let it bother her too much, though. After all, Marian had said it was his busiest time of the year and she didn't want to distract him from his work.

But then the Starlight Gala had happened, and she might have inadvertently done something that put a permanent end to whatever small chance she ever had of being with Klaus.

She had meant well enough when she invited Fritz to go with her to the celebration. He still hadn't left his farm, even though nearly the entire season had passed since Eda's death, and she knew he needed to get back out into the world to see that it wasn't all bleak. It had taken a lot of convincing, but she eventually got him to agree to go with her to the festival.

That had been her mistake, though. She didn't know it was customary to take your romantic interest. Raeger later informed her of that little detail, but the damage had already been done. Klaus had seen her arrive with Fritz, had seen her talking with him as they gazed up at the stars together, had witnessed her smiling at him and encouraging him to make a wish when a shooting star went by. It was no wonder, then, that she'd seen a sadness in his eyes when she caught up to him as she and Fritz were about to leave. Because of her ignorance regarding the local customs, he no doubt believed that she was now pursuing some sort of relationship with Fritz.

She reached up and gently touched her cheek near the corner of her mouth, a wistful sigh escaping her lips. Klaus had kissed her there, that night. He'd been so close she could have turned her head and caught his lips in a proper kiss. She wished she had done it. Then there would have been no doubt left in anyone's mind as to who she truly had feelings for. Most of all, Klaus would have no longer been able to deny he had feelings for her – a fact Avery was now sure of. After all, he wouldn't have looked so heartbroken upon seeing her at the Starlight Gala with Fritz if he didn't like her as _much_ more than a friend.

Sighing heavily, she braced her hands upon the table and pushed her chair back, then stood and began pacing. She had to do something to fix the mess she'd made, but she didn't know what. Klaus had completely avoided her during the New Year's Festival, keeping close to Iris and Mistel the entire time. He'd even avoided Marian, which was odd, but she figured it was because the doctor likely knew how he felt about her, as well.

She knew she needed a plan... some way to get him alone, away from his work and the rest of the townspeople so he wouldn't have any sort of excuse to ignore her. Then she would tell him how she felt and let whatever would come of it happen. She'd never been very good at keeping her New Year's resolutions, but this was one she would _not_ fail to keep.

She turned back toward her table and looked at the letters sitting there. She knew couldn't write back to them. Not yet. Not until she had something to tell them about what was going on between herself and Klaus, be it good or bad. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she decided to take a walk to clear her head and hopefully come up with a plan for how to go about telling Klaus that she loved him.

 

* * *

 

Klaus wandered along the road leading out of town and into the mountains, his hands shoved into his pockets and his head hanging low. Normally, he loved spring, but not even the warmth of the sun or the sound of birds chirping in the trees could brighten the winter-like gloom which still remained in his heart.

Marian had warned him that keeping his feelings inside would cost him. He thought he'd been right in his assumptions about the depth of the relationship between Avery and Fritz, as well, though. Seeing them together at the Starlight Gala had been like a punch to his heart. No one had been able to convince the young man to leave his farm since Eda's death, but she had managed to do it. Moreover, they had both looked quite happy together, talking and laughing while they gazed at the stars.

He wanted to be happy for her – for both of them – but it was hard. He loved her, and it was his own damn fault he had lost her to someone else. He'd made a concerted effort to avoid her at the New Year's Festival, but he knew he couldn't keep avoiding her forever. Oak Tree Town was small, and they would end up crossing paths again, eventually. He supposed he could try to go back to simply watching her from afar, as he had when she first came to town, but they had grown closer over the past year and he knew there really was no going back. He would simply have to find a way to deal with things the way they were, and in time perhaps he would find someone else to love.

With a sigh, he glanced up and saw Avery standing on the bridge leading to the land shared by Fritz and Giorgio. He stopped in his tracks and simply watched her for a while, her hair blowing softly in the breeze, and after a moment she sighed and leaned forward to rest her head against the palm of her hand. He knew he should leave her alone, but his feet refused to listen to reason and before he realized it he was walking toward her. She lifted her head when she heard his shoes upon the stone of the bridge, and when she turned to him Klaus saw a mixture of surprise and relief on her face.

"Klaus," she said his name, a faint smile pulling at her lips. The gesture looked forced, and he could tell something was bothering her.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, reaching out to brush her hair back over her shoulder. He gently ran his hand down her back, part of him wondering – and, horribly, hoping – that she and Fritz had gotten in some sort of argument which had put an end to their budding romance.

Avery turned away from him to look out at the river, nervously biting her bottom lip. Klaus remained silent, thinking maybe he should have just kept walking rather than attempting to pry into her personal life. He was about to excuse himself to continue on his way up the mountain when she finally spoke.

"I got a letter from my cousin today," she told him.

"That's a good thing, right?" Klaus wondered, his head cocked slightly to one side. "I remember you saying that the two of you were close."

"We are, and it is," she replied. "But, reading her letter... It made me think about my own life."

"How so?"

"She's not that much older than me," she said, continuing to look out over the water. "She's only been doing the whole farming thing for three years, and she's wildly successful. People actually moved to the town she's in just because of how well her farm is doing."

"You really shouldn't compare yourself to her," Klaus told her. "You're just starting out, and you've accomplished so much in this past year, alone."

"Yeah, well..." Avery paused and let out a heavy sigh, standing up straight once more. "Now she's getting married – to a _prince_ , of all things – and I can't even get the man I love to admit he has feelings for me."

She turned to look at him then, and Klaus felt his heart start to race. Was she really talking about him? With the way she was looking at him, it certainly seemed that way. He needed to be sure, though.

"You mean... Me?"

" _Yes_ , you!" she cried in frustration, taking a step closer to him and grasping the lapels of his coat in her hands.

"Klaus, I love you," she repeated, her voice shaking. "I've loved you for a while, now, and... and I need to know for sure if you feel the same way or not, because I swear... sometimes it seems obvious that you do, but then you start avoiding me and it's driving me _crazy_."

Klaus felt the air leave his lungs in a single breath. There it was. She had just said what he'd been longing to hear come from her, what others had told him had been the case but he couldn't let himself possibly believe was true until she was the one speaking the words. He should have been dancing for joy, but fear and doubt still clouded his mind.

"Are you sure?" he asked her, his voice barely loud enough to be heard over the rushing water below them.

"I'm not a child," she reminded him, shaking her head. "I know what I want, and I want _you_."

"You could have your pick out of any of the bachelors in town," he told her with a sad smile, remembering how she and Fritz had looked together at the festival. "Are you sure you wouldn't be more comfortable with someone your own age?"

Avery closed her eyes and let out a small, annoyed groan. "Klaus! I don't care! So what if you're older than me? My father was _literally_ twice my mother's age when they got married, and they've been happy together for over twenty years, now. I couldn't care less about the age difference."

"I just want you to be happy," he said, reaching up and gently holding her face in his hands. She looked up at him, her brown eyes hopeful but also full of apprehension.

"Then tell me how you really feel about me," she requested.

"I haven't always been the man you see before you right now," he informed her. "There are things in my past I am far from proud of. Things I fear will drive you away from me."

"Whatever it is, it's in the past, Klaus," she assured him, shaking her head but never looking away from him. "I fell in love with the man you are _now_. What matters to me isn't your past, but how you feel at _this very moment_."

Klaus simply continued to search her eyes, looking for any signs of deception or doubt. All he saw in her was the same fear he had been feeling all along in his own heart – fear that he would reject her feelings for him. Taking a deep breath, he moved one of his hands down to her waist and pulled her closer to him, his heart hammering wildly in his chest.

"I love you, Avery," he finally admitted to her, "and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be your man."

"Then would you _please_ just kiss me, already?" she requested, her grip tightening on his coat as she pulled him even closer.

Klaus didn't hesitate. He slid his arm fully around his waist and threaded his fingers into her hair, bringing her to him as he leaned down and kissed her. The very moment his lips made contact with hers, he realized what a fool he'd been all long for denying himself what he had truly wanted. It was unlike any kiss he'd ever experienced before, and it felt so perfect that it was almost as if it was something right out of one of Iris' damned romance novels.

He meant to keep the kiss gentle and sweet, a way to express his love for her, but the combination of the relief washing over him and the pent-up desires he'd been holding on to for so long caused things to quickly escalate and the kiss went from a soft brushing of his lips against hers to a hungry claiming of her mouth. To his surprise, Avery was just as eager as him, her fingers tangling in his hair as she raised up on her toes to press her body closer to his even as he pulled her flush against him. A soft moan escaped her as their mouths just barely separated for the briefest of seconds, and she caught his bottom lip between her teeth and gave it a slight tug. Klaus groaned deep in the back of his throat and gently tugged on her hair, then used her surprised gasp to sweep his tongue into her mouth. She tasted like wildflower honey and – just as he had imagined – raspberries. The little minx surprised him by sucking on his tongue, and he found himself wondering just how inexperienced she really was when it came to men. Forgetting where they were, he pinned her lower body against the side of the bridge and pressed his hips suggestively against hers, drawing a delightful little whimper from her and causing her to press back against him in a way which let him know that he wasn't the only one who had been craving this for so long.

"Hey guys!" Fritz called from just up the hill, and Klaus reluctantly pulled away from Avery before the farmer could catch them in the rather compromising position he'd put her in. He watched as she ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to comb it back into place, a blush coloring her cheeks even though she was smiling at him. She then reached up and wiped at the corner of his mouth with her thumb, and Klaus chuckled a bit when he realized that some of her lip gloss must have rubbed off on him.

"Avery! Klaus! Hiya!" Fritz greeted them, and Klaus casually leaned back against the side of the bridge next to her, offering the younger man a warm greeting.

"How are you today, Fritz? You seem well."

"I am!" Fritz replied with a nod and a smile. "I was just off to the trade depot to pick up some seeds. What are you two up to?"

"Oh, you know," Klaus replied, sending a quick glance Avery's way. "We were just standing here, enjoying the beautiful weather."

"That sounds like fun! Hey... wait a minute..."

He took a step closer to the two of them, narrowing his eyes as he looked them over more carefully. His gaze lingered on Klaus the longest, and Klaus fidgeted when Fritz stepped even closer to him.

"Why are you wearing lipstick?" he asked, then looked over at Avery. A moment later he blinked and turned as red as a tomato.

"I uh... I better get going," he said, chuckling nervously and running a hand back through his messy auburn hair. "You two, um... have a nice day, now. Stay out of trouble!"

"Fritz!" Avery called after him, but he took off running in the direction of town with merely a wave over his shoulder as a final goodbye.

"Well, the whole town is going to know we're together, now," Klaus muttered, turning toward her and kissing her briefly. "Hope you weren't wanting to keep it a secret."

"Fritz isn't going to run blabbing to everyone about what he saw," she told him, shaking her head.

"No, but I'm sure he'll tell Raeger," Klaus said, linking his arm through hers and walking together with her toward the nearby crossroads. "Then Raeger will tell Marian, and _Marian_ will tell the whole town."

Avery groaned. "Sometimes, I really hate living in a small town."

"Did you _want_ to keep us a secret?" Klaus wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Avery assured him, shaking her head, "but it would be nice if _we_ could be the ones to tell people we're together rather than having them hear it from the reigning Gossip Queen of Oak Tree Town."

Klaus chuckled and leaned over to kiss her on her forehead. "So where are you headed, m'lady? I'll escort you there."

"M'lady?" Avery echoed, snickering.

"Did I _honestly_ just say that?" Klaus wondered, cringing. "I'm so rusty at this dating thing I'm starting to talk like Giorgio."

"I think it's cute, _m'lord_ ," she mocked him, sticking her tongue out at him and laughing when he gave her a halfhearted glare. Klaus retaliated by sweeping her into his arms and silencing her laughter with another thorough kiss.

"I would so love to do nothing more than kiss you all day," he told her once they finally parted, "but I have work I need to do."

Avery nodded. "And I need to finish writing back to my parents and my cousin."

"What do you say we go on a proper date later this week?" he asked her. "We'll head into the city, and I'll take you to this restaurant I used to go to when I was younger. The owner there is a great guy, helped me out a lot when I first left home. I'd really like for you to meet him."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea," Avery agreed, smiling at him.

"So I'll meet you at the trade depot at about... 11:15 on Sunday? Is that enough time for you to do what you need to in the morning?"

Avery nodded and raised up on her toes to gave him a quick peck on his lips. "Plenty of time."

"So it's a date, then?" he asked her with a smile. "A _real_ one, this time?"

"It's a date."


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine  
**

Klaus hesitated outside the door of the restaurant. He was well aware that Raeger would likely already know he and Avery were now together, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that he hadn't spoken to the younger man since he threatened him to stay away from Avery. He knew he owed him an apology, but the reason for his visit was two-fold. He hadn't been on a date in almost a decade, and Avery was much closer to Raeger's age than his own. Klaus hated to admit it, but he was in desperate need of the young chef's advice.

Deciding it was best to not delay the inevitable any longer, Klaus opened the door of the restaurant and stepped inside. Raeger was sitting at one of the tables, talking to a _very_ red-faced Lillie with a smirk on his face. He turned his head to greet whoever had just come in, and immediately jumped to his feet when he saw Klaus, his grin becoming somehow even more wicked.

"Settle a bet for us, Klaus," he said, gesturing to the blushing brunette at the table. "Which base did you get to with Avery before Fritz caught you two in the act? I say second, but Lillie here thinks you're too straight-laced to go that far on first contact."

"Well," Klaus replied as he crossed his arms calmly over his chest, defiantly refusing to give Raeger the satisfaction of being flustered by the question, "I hate to burst your bubble, but we only made it to first base. A _gentleman_ would never go farther than that in public."

Raeger blinked in surprise at the older man's ability to answer the question with a straight face, then laughed nervously and reached up to ruffle the back of his hair when he picked up on the thinly veiled insult he'd slipped in among the statement. He turned back to Lillie and his laughter trailed off, then he cleared his throat loudly and began making his way back behind the counter.

"So, what can I get for you today, Klaus?" he asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I wanted to ask you for some advice, actually," Klaus told him, taking him by surprise once more. Raeger chuckled a bit to himself and set a glass down on the counter at the older man's usual spot, then filled it with water as Klaus sat down.

"Let me get this straight... _You_ came here to ask _me_ for dating advice?"

Klaus tightened his jaw and shifted uncomfortably on his stool. He should have known that he would be cocky about this situation. There was no one else he could go to, though. Marian was his best friend, but the doctor would likely fixate on how to get him laid as soon as possible. Raeger might be just as bad a choice, in that respect, but he hoped that – as Avery's friend – he would be willing to put his usual personality quirks aside for a single conversation.

"Wipe that damned smirk off your face before I beat it off of you," Klaus grumbled, snatching up the menu that was offered to him.

"You hearing this?" Raeger directed the question to Lillie. "He wants me to help him, and so he threatens me. And he calls himself a 'gentleman!'"

"Perhaps he simply wishes to have an adult conversation with you without having to worry about that smart mouth of yours," Lillie pointed out, standing from her chair at the table and picking up her plate and cup. She moved to the counter and sat next to Klaus, giving him a sweet smile.

"You know, this isn't the first time he's threatened me," Raeger told her, leaning over to steal a sweet potato fry from her pate and waving it about as he spoke. "He actually attempted to strangle me the very day Madam Eda died."

"He did not!" Lillie said, reaching out the snatch the fry back from him just as he was about to put it in his mouth.

"Actually, I did," Klaus corrected her, and she turned to him with a look of absolute shock on her young face. Klaus sighed and turned slightly to more easily address them both.

"That's the other reason I came here today. Raeger, I'm sorry for the way I acted before," he apologized. "I was entirely out of line. I know you care about Avery and would never take advantage of her."

"Don't worry about it, Klaus," Raeger told him with a shrug. "I admit, I was pretty pissed off when it happened, but I think I was more shocked you had it in you than anything else. Given the situation, though... if our roles were reversed, I probably would have done the same thing."

"So you actually hurt Raeger?" Lillie pushed the issue, looking back and forth between the two men.

"I wanted to," Klaus told her, pausing to ask Raeger for his usual, then he turned fully toward the innkeeper's eldest daughter.

"You know about his reputation, right?" Lillie's eyes shot to Raeger and she blushed, nodding silently as she turned her attention once more to Klaus. "I didn't want Avery to end up another notch on his whittled-down bedpost. So I threatened him to stay away from her."

"Because Klaus here was too damn stubborn to admit that he wants to hit that, himself," Raeger remarked, setting a plate of bruschetta in front of the other man. Amber-green eyes narrowed at his comment, and Raeger tossed up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry, man, but honestly I am _glad_ you two have finally gotten your shit together. I was getting tired of Avery coming in here all moony over you and you acting like you had no interest at all in her when it was _so damn obvious_ you did."

"I think it's sweet!" Lillie jumped to Klaus' defense once more. "Avery loves him, and he loves her, and now they get to be happy together."

"Yeah, because _that's_ how the real world works," Raeger muttered under his breath as he set to work making Klaus' soup.

Klaus chuckled a bit at the young woman's innocent naivete. "Well, that's what I'm hoping for, at least. But, like I said... I'm afraid I need a bit of advice from Raeger, here."

"Klaus, I seriously doubt you want _any_ sort of advice I could give you," Raeger pointed out. "Besides, from what you told me before, I'm pretty sure it's _you_ who could teach _me_ a thing or two."

"I'm not asking for sex tips, Raeger," Klaus said with a sigh, then cast an apologetic look toward Lillie, who had begun to turn pink once she realized the direction the conversation was heading.

"So... What's the problem?" Raeger asked, leaning on the countertop.

"I haven't been on a proper date in nearly ten years," Klaus admitted. "What, exactly, do young women these days enjoy doing?"

Raeger let out a small laugh and nodded his head toward Lillie. "You wanna take this one, cutie? I'm not really qualified to answer."

Lillie blinked a few times in surprise, reaching up and tucking her brown hair behind her ears while she composed her thoughts. "Well... I guess... We like to talk. Don't force conversation, though, or it'll get awkward. Compliment her, but don't make perverted comments about how certain body parts look in her clothes." She paused and cast a meaningful glare in Raeger's direction.

"Hold her hand when you're walking together," she continued after a moment. "It'll make her feel like you want her there with you. Open doors for her. Help her with her chair and her coat, if she's wearing one. You know... The usual things gentlemen do."

"I think I can handle that," Klaus assured her with a smile.

"Where are you taking her?" Raeger asked, setting Klaus' bouillabaisse on the counter in front of him.

"We're going to a restaurant I used to frequent when I first moved to the city."

"This place is special to you, I'm guessing?" Raeger wondered.

"It is," Klaus replied, then began eating.

"You ever take any of your other girlfriends there?" the younger man pressed, his blue-green eyes narrowing slightly.

"Only one," Klaus answered, pausing to wipe off his mouth with his napkin. "Why?"

"Bad idea," Raeger told him, shaking his head. "Never take your new girlfriend to your 'special place' from a past relationship."

"Wow, I'm surprised to hear that coming from you," Lillie said, looking genuinely surprised.

"It's not special because of the person I took there before," Klaus informed them. "It's special to me because, well... for other reasons."

He hated to be vague, but he really didn't want to discuss his past with them. He decided to leave it at that and tucked back into his soup, hoping they would both let the subject drop.

"Well, I think that it's a good idea to share special things with each other," Lillie assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "But don't make the date all about you. She used to live in the city, too, right?" She waited for Klaus to nod before continue. "Then ask her if there's anywhere she'd like to go while you're there. Give her a chance to show you some of _her_ special places."

Raeger snickered. "I'm sure she's already plenty prepared to show him her _special places_."

Lillie's attention snapped back to him and she stared, open-mouthed, at his smirking expression. He winked at her and she stood from her stool with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Whatever you do, Klaus," she said, her eyes never leaving the chef, "don't go into this date _expecting_ to get laid. If you really care about her, take your time and don't rush her off to bed right away."

"Don't worry, Lillie," Klaus assured the young woman. "I'm not going to pressure Avery into anything like that."

"Good." Her brown hair swayed as she nodded her head, still starting intently at Raeger. A moment later, she finally turned to Klaus and put on her sweetest smile.

"I hope you have a nice time on your date," she told him, then leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "You and Avery really do make a lovely couple."

"Thank you," Klaus said, then watched as she left the restaurant, her smile falling once more when she looked back to Raeger one last time before finally heading out. The young man sighed when the door closed behind her, his usually confident demeanor faltering.

"Want to tell me what that was all about?" Klaus asked after a long silence, and Raeger shook his head.

"I'll never understand women," he said. "One minute they're flirting with you, the next they act like you're the scum of the earth."

"Maybe if you laid off some of the sex talk, she wouldn't feel as uncomfortable," Klaus suggested.

"Easier said than done," Raeger told him.

"Trust me," Klaus replied, standing and placing some money next to his empty bowl. "When you find the right woman, you'll _want_ to change."

"How do you know if she's the right one?" Raeger called after him as he started to head out of the restaurant. Klaus stopped with his hand on the doorknob and turned back toward him.

"If the thought of her being with anyone else makes you feel like someone is trying to rip your heart out of your chest, that's a pretty good indicator," he told the younger man, flashing a knowing smile. Raeger blushed and muttered a thank you to him for his patronage, then quickly set about cleaning up the spot where he'd been sitting at the counter, and Klaus chuckled and left to make arrangements for his upcoming date.

 

* * *

 

"We have _really_ got to get to work, here."

Avery looked up from brushing her horse to the entrance of her barn, where Marian was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a disapproving scowl on his face.

"Um... Hi?"

"This whole farm girl look is cute, but if you want Klaus to not be able to keep his hands off you, we're going to need to turn things up a notch," he said, walking over to her. He tilted his head as he took her appearance in more fully, noting a couple of pieces of hay in her hair and a smudge of dirt on her cheek.

"Make that _several_ notches."

"Marian, I'm not planning on going out with Klaus without cleaning up, first," Avery told him, patting Pinot's flank and sending him back toward the feeding trough.

"I'm talking about _more_ than just 'cleaning up,'" he replied, going over to her and linking an arm through hers to lead her out of the barn and back toward her house. "We need to do something about that lifeless hair of yours, and get you into an outfit that will make all the boys drool."

"I don't really want to get too made up for this date, Marian," Avery protested.

Marian chuckled and opened her front door, then ushered her inside and over to her vanity. She tried to argue with the doctor, but he placed his hands on her shoulders and firmly pushed her down into the chair before the mirror.

"Klaus won't know what hit him by the time I'm done with you," he promised. "I'm going to turn you from a plain country girl into the most desirable sex kitten on the planet."

"Please don't," Avery pleaded, attempting to stand up but finding herself shoved back into the chair. "Marian, I mean it. I don't want Klaus to see me the wrong way."

"Fine," he finally agreed after having to force her to sit for a third time. "I won't slut you up. But at least let me help you get ready. I promise I'll keep it tasteful."

Avery opened her mouth to protest once more, but he looked so hopeful that she couldn't say no to the offer. Instead, she nodded her head and the doctor let out a delighted squeal and enveloped her in a tight hug. He then turned her toward the mirror and picked up her brush to set to work.

"You know, it's been a long time since Klaus has been out on a proper date," he said, picking the hay out of her hair before running the brush through her long, golden locks. "I'm guessing he's probably just as nervous as you are."

"I never said I was nervous."

"You don't need to," Marian said, smiling at her. "I can tell. But you don't need to be. Just be yourself."

"Says the man who was intending to... what was the term you used? Slut me up?" she asked, looking up at him. Marian chuckled.

"Yes, well... Let's just say Klaus is used to dating a certain kind of woman." Avery shifted uncomfortably in her seat and Marian placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned over to talk to her, lowering his voice.

"Hey... I'm sorry. Don't take that to mean anything, okay? Klaus doesn't expect you to put out on the first date. It's just that... his exes tended to have a certain style that's _much_ different from yours. City girls, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know," Avery said, nodding. "I saw plenty of women like that before I moved here."

"I think you being so different from them is one of the things that attracted him to you, actually," Marian remarked, resuming in brushing her hair. "One gets tired of having the same dish all the time, after all."

"That's what first drew my attention to _him_ ," Avery admitted, and Marian met her gaze in the mirror, raising a single eyebrow in question. "All of the guys I've ever dated were just so... immature. They wanted to party and get drunk all the time. I could never just sit down and have a nice dinner or a serious conversation with any of them. And _forget_ about any of them having any manners."

Marian chuckled. "Well... I hate to break it to you but Klaus certainly fit that bill, too, when he and I first met. He probably wouldn't ever admit it, but he had a bit of a wild streak when he was younger. No matter how out of control he was, though, he always knew how to treat a woman."

"A true gentleman to the core, huh?"

"In a sense," Marian said, putting down Avery's brush and reaching for a silver butterfly barrette sitting on the vanity table. He pulled the long strands of hair framing her face back and clipped them into place at the back of her head, then set to looking for some makeup.

"Can I ask you something, Marian?"

"Hmm?" he glanced at Avery and nodded, then returned to his current task. Finally finding some simple makeup, he turned her chair slightly so she was facing him.

"What sort of woman does Klaus like?" Avery asked, closing her eyes as Marian began applying her makeup.

"That isn't really my place to say," he told her, carefully contouring her eyes. "But he used to like women who were into... having fun. His tastes have matured over the years, though. He's not the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants Klaus he used to be. I think he's looking for someone he can see himself having a future with."

"I can be fun," Avery said, and Marian chuckled once more as he began applying some berry-colored stain to her lips.

"I'm sure you're a blast, sweetie." He pulled the handkerchief from the pocket of his white coat and wiped away the smudge of dirt from her cheek, then grabbed up a large brush and some coral-colored blush. "I'm taking about the _sexy_ kind of fun, though."

"Oh... Well..." Avery began nervously biting her lip. "I'm not... _entirely_ inexperienced in that area."

"How far have you gone?" he asked bluntly, setting aside the last of her makeup and wandering around in search of her closet. Avery stood and followed him.

"I've kissed a lot of guys," she told him, pointing him in the right direction once she realized what he was looking for.

"And?" he prompted, pulling open the closet door and flipping through the few outfits she had hanging within.

"And... not much else," Avery admitted. "There's been some touching, here and there, but it was always while fully clothed."

Marian finally found what he was looking for. Stuffed in the back of her closet was a sky blue, sleeveless dress with thin spaghetti straps. It was even cut low in the front, which Marian knew would serve to help show off even _more_ of her perfect, pale skin while also accentuating her decent-sized breasts. With a sly grin, he pulled the dress from her closet and held it up to her body, imagining what she would look like once she had it on.

"Klaus is going to eat you alive," he remarked with a happy little laugh, causing Avery's eyes to widen in fear.

"Not in a bad way, silly girl," he admonished her, placing the dress in her hands and grabbing up a strappy pair of sandals from the closet floor, then handing them to her as well before leading her toward the bathroom. "I simply meant that once he sees you in this dress, he won't be able to keep his eyes _or_ hands off you."

"I don't really know if this is appropriate for me to be wearing for a first date," Avery protested, blushing. "I mean, I didn't even pick this dress out! It was a gift from my cousin."

"She has good taste," Marian remarked. "Now, go put those on and let's see how you look."

Avery tried to protest once more, but was unceremoniously shoved into her own bathroom and Marian shut the door behind her and waited with his arms crossed over his chest. Several minutes passed, and he was just about to knock and ask her what was taking so long when she finally opened the door and meekly stepped back out.

"Wow!" Marian gasped as he looked her over. "You sure do clean up nice."

The dress fit even better than he had imagined, the fitted bodice hugging her curves before dropping down into the full skirt. He gave her a signal to spin around and she hesitated briefly before doing so, sending the skirt flaring outward just enough to show off her calves, which were well-toned from all the walking she did on a daily basis.

"I feel like I'm going to fall out of this dress," she complained, tugging at the straps and readjusting her breasts in the bodice.

"You won't," Marian assured her. "However, on the off chance that you _do_ , I'm sure Klaus wouldn't mind in the slightest."

Avery crossed her arms to cover her low-cut neckline, blushing. "I'm going to change."

"No time, honey," Marian informed her, pointing to the clock sitting on top of the mantel above her fireplace.

"Now," he continued, ushering her toward the front door, "I want you to go have a good time with Klaus, hear me?"

Avery twisted from his grasp and ran over to the closet, causing the doctor to shout at her that she would be late if she insisted on changing her clothes.

"I know!" she told him impatiently, grabbing a white, crocheted shawl from one of the hangers and wrapping it around her shoulders. She then tied the ends into a knot right over her cleavage and pulled her hair out from under it as she made her way back over to where the doctor was waiting with the front door held open for her.

"Go get him, sweetie!" he called after her as she rushed off to meet Klaus at the trade depot.


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

Avery fussed with her shawl, reaching up with one hand to again reposition it so the knot she'd tied covered her exposed cleavage as much as possible. Klaus chuckled a bit and she looked up at him, blushing when she saw the amused expression on his face.

"What's so funny?" she asked, pulling her arm out of his as she stopped walking and untied the knot with the intention of retying it a bit more loosely so it would cover a larger area of her chest.

"I don't understand why you would wear something you're obviously so uncomfortable in," Klaus replied, reaching up to stay her hands. "It's actually one of the things I have never understood about _any_ woman. At least you're not wearing painful-looking high heels or an excessive amount of makeup, and your hair appears as though I could touch it without you screaming about how long it took to get it _just right_."

"For the record, I didn't pick out this dress. Marian did," she informed him, allowing her hands to fall away from his as he began adjusting the shawl for her.

"I guessed as much," he said with a smile, his eyes dipping down to her chest briefly before returning to her face. "If I may be so bold, it was an excellent decision. The color is perfect for spring, and the cut of the dress flatters your figure quite nicely."

"You just like the way my breasts look in it," she accused him, a pale blush coloring her cheeks.

"I like the way your breasts look in anything," Klaus told her, immediately turning scarlet when he realized he'd spoken the words out loud. "That is... I, um..." He cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure, and let out a nervous chuckle.

"I'm not saying I only want you for your body," he said,shaking his head and pulling her closer to him as a small group of students passed them on the sidewalk. "It's just that... As they say, if you've got it, flaunt it. And you, my dear, have most certainly 'got it,' so why not flaunt it a bit?"

He winced and reached up to nervously ruffle the hair at the back of his head. Avery giggled at how uncomfortable he looked, then stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.

"I love you, Klaus," she told him, "and I know you're not trying to objectify me. I just feel like I'm going to pop out of this dress at any moment."

Klaus chuckled and finished arranging her shawl so that it covered most of her chest while leaving a line of cleavage exposed in the center, then leaned down and kissed her briefly.

"I don't think you have to worry about that happening, unless you decide to go hanging upside-down from some rafters, later," he assured her, taking her hand and looping her arm through his once more.

"It wasn't on my agenda, but the day is still young so you never know," Avery said, smiling at him as they began walking together once more.

"A word of advice," Klaus offered, holding up a finger. "Next time Marian tries to dress you, give him a sharp kick to the groin and tell him you'll wear whatever the hell you want. You could have shown up in your dirty work clothes and I wouldn't have cared as long as I get to spend time alone with you, today."

"So you're saying I could be naked right now and you wouldn't care?" she asked him, smirking.

"Not in the slightest," he told her, giving her a wink. "Though I would probably feel compelled to follow suit and then we would both end up getting arrested for public indecency."

Avery laughed and blushed, hugging his arm a bit as they walked. She was glad they could finally be away from their friends and neighbors, for once. Not that she didn't adore most of the residents of Oak Tree Town; she simply enjoyed seeing Klaus acting more natural and laid back without the threat of Marian or Raeger sticking their nose into things.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" she asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over them.

"I made a lunch reservation for 1:30 at the restaurant I was telling you about," Klaus informed her. "I do need to stop at one of the department stores in town before we head over there, though, in order to pick up some orders. It should only take a minute or two. Aside from that, I really had no plans."

"Sounds good, Boss," Avery said, biting her lip to keep from chuckling. Klaus stopped in his tracks and looked at her, his eyes wide in horror.

"You _saw_ that horrible television show?" he asked her, and Avery nodded. He averted his gaze from hers and swore under his breath as he ran his hand back through his hair, licking his lips nervously.

"I... I would have told you about it, eventually," he stammered.

"You sort of did, already," Avery corrected him. "You mentioned being a rebellious youth, before, and that you left home at a young age."

"Yes, well..." He cleared his throat a bit and leaned closer to her, lowering his voice, his expression turning grim. "There's quite a difference between simple youthful rebellion and being a gang leader."

Avery frowned a little and leaned up to kiss him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I didn't realize it was such a bad memory for you."

"It's not that," he assured her, shaking his head. "I simply don't want you to be scared away by the darker shades of my past."

"What did I tell you before, Klaus?" she asked him. "Your past doesn't matter to me. So stop worrying about it. I'm not going anywhere."

"We'll see about that," he muttered under his breath as he continued walking with her once more, steering her into a nearby department store.

Avery clutched at Klaus' arm as they wove their way through the large crowd of Sunday shoppers, walking quickly to keep up with his longer strides as he led them toward a counter toward the back of the first floor. Dozens of bottles of various shapes and sizes were lined up on the counter as well as on display upon glass shelves behind it, each of them likely containing a different brand of perfume. Avery wondered how many of them Klaus had designed, himself.

"Klaus! Good to see you," an older woman with greying brown hair greeted them when they reached the perfume counter, and she leaned forward to exchange kisses on the cheek with him.

"Bethany, you're looking as beautiful as always," he complimented the woman, offering her a charming smile, and she playfully smacked his shoulder.

"Stop it, you! I'm old enough to be your mother," she scolded him, though she was smiling, as well. Her eyes then fell upon Avery and her smile grew even more.

"And who is this lovely young woman you've brought with you today?" she asked, offering her hand. Avery reached out to shake her hand in greeting just as Klaus introduced them.

"This is Bethany Ross, the main fragrance buyer here at Herschel's. Bethany, this is Avery Durand... my girlfriend."

Avery bit her tongue to keep from giggling at the way Klaus blushed ever so slightly upon introducing her as his girlfriend. It was the first time she'd heard him refer to her as such, and she couldn't help but wonder if he'd told anyone else outside of Oak Tree Town about their relationship.

"My word!" Bethany exclaimed, drawing Avery's attention back toward the older woman, who was now staring at her in awe. "So _you're_ the one who inspired Klaus' greatest masterpiece?"

"Excuse me?" Avery asked, thoroughly confused. The woman simply let go of her hand and pulled a box out from under the counter, then held it out as if she was displaying it for a customer's consideration. The box was purple, and bore no design other than a single word written across the front in an elegant golden script: Avery.

"You... named a perfume after me?" she asked Klaus, turning to him. He slid one of the bottles across the counter toward her, and she immediately recognized it. It was a tall, thin, rectangular bottle with a golden A printed upon it in the same script as the name across the box. Avery picked up the bottle and smelled the perfume. Sure enough, it was the scent he had gifted to her for the winter holidays – the very prototype fragrance he'd given her a sample of the previous spring. She had merely assumed he'd had a special, monogrammed bottle made for her... not that he'd named the perfume after her.

"You were the inspiration for it, so it seemed only fitting to name the fragrance after you," he told her, taking the bottle back from her and placing it where it had been.

"Hopefully you'll inspire him to create even more," Bethany said as she put away the box she had shown Avery. "This one has been quite a hit with the ladies. Then again, they gobble up just about anything with Klaus' name attached to it."

"I can't imagine why," Avery remarked, a slight hint of sarcasm in her voice. Klaus chuckled and pulled her closer to him, leaning down to kiss the top of her head, then released her and turned his attention toward Bethany.

"We were just in the neighborhood, so I thought I would stop in to pick up any new orders you might have for me," he told her, and Avery wandered toward a nearby jewelery display while they discussed business.

A clerk immediately came over to her when she began looking at the elegant pieces within the case, asking her if she needed help with anything. She politely declined his offer, but assured him that she would let him know if she required his assistance. She doubted she would, though. Everything within the case was much too flashy for her tastes. Even the wristwatches were encrusted with various gemstones. It all looked like cheap costume jewelery to her, even though she knew each and every piece was _far_ from inexpensive.

The only thing that fit within her tastes was a silver locket – and even that was embellished with diamond dust. Still, it was far simpler than any of the other items in the jewelry case. Curious how much something like that would go for, she picked up the necklace and looked at the tag... then promptly began to choke on her own saliva. Apparently, the necklace was not made of silver but platinum and in order to afford it she would likely have to save for an entire year on her current budget. Even that would be cutting close, as she planned to spend a decent amount of money to finally add a second floor to her home in the summer and she would be continuing to expand upon the winery throughout the year.

"Ready to go?" Klaus asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Avery nodded and set the locket back in its proper place within the display, then reached up and took his hand in hers to allow him to lead her back through the crowd and out of the store.

"I'm beginning to regret telling you to 'flaunt it,' you know," he told her once they were outside, releasing her hand to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her to his side in a slightly possessive manner.

"Oh?"

Klaus nodded, hailing a taxi for the two of them. "I'm sure you didn't notice, but every man was watching you in there. Even the married ones who should know better."

Avery blushed and bit her lip, fidgeting with her shawl as a car stopped at the side of the road to pick them up. Klaus opened the door for and she went to get into the back seat, but decided to be bold and turned back to him, reaching up and pulling him down by his cravat until his lips met hers.

"Let them look," she whispered a moment later, after breaking the kiss. " _You're_ the one I'm going home with."

Klaus remained unmoving as he watched her climb into the cab, then he took a slow, deep breath before joining her and giving the driver the address of their next destination.

 

* * *

 

"Antonio?" Klaus called out to the seemingly empty restaurant, Avery lagging a step behind him as they wandered past the empty tables toward the kitchen at the back of the establishment.

"Maybe we're too early and they're not open yet?" she asked.

"We're not _that_ early," Klaus replied, shaking his head. "Something's not right."

He quickened his pace, worried something might have happened to his old friend. He was just about to pull open the doors to the kitchen when they suddenly burst forward to reveal a large man with dark gray hair and a full beard, wearing a green apron and holding a large knife in one hand. His sudden appearance started both of them, sending Klaus stumbling backwards into the nearby counter and causing Avery to let out a high-pitched scream.

"Klaus, my boy!" the man joyfully cried out, then blinked when he saw the horror-stricken faces looking back at him. He let out a throaty chuckle and set the knife down on a table just inside the door, then wiped his hands off on his apron and headed for the other man, holding his arms open wide.

"You son of a bitch," Klaus grumbled, accepting the larger man's hug and returning it with one of his own.

"Oh, come on," he said, continuing to chuckle. "You should have seen that one coming. You ask me, you've let country living turn you soft."

"You didn't need to scare my girlfriend, too, though," Klaus pointed out, taking a step back and gesturing toward Avery, who was standing a few feet away with her hand to her chest, trying to catch her breath.

Antonio looked over to Avery and the smile suddenly fell from his face. He bowed slightly, once again wiping his hands off on his apron, and stepped forward with both of them extended toward her in greeting.

"I'm sorry, miss. I didn't mean to frighten you," he told her, taking one of her small hands in both of his large ones and bringing it to his lips to kiss the back of it. "I was just wanting to give Klaus a hard time."

"That's quite all right," she assured him, smiling.

"So, you're Avery, huh?" he asked, releasing her hand and standing back up to his full height, which was about a head taller than Klaus. His gaze swept over her and she looked over to Klaus, blushing when he let out a low, appreciative whistle.

"You really do know how to pick them, don't you, boy?" he asked, looking over at him. Klaus smirked and went to stand next to Avery, sliding an arm around her waist and pulling her back slightly against his chest.

"Don't go getting any ideas, now," he warned his friend.

"I'm just saying maybe you should find one of these pretty young things to fix _me_ up with, is all," Antonio insisted. "It's been more than fifteen years since Mira passed, I think I'm ready to hit the dating scene again."

"A charmer like you doesn't need my help," Klaus told him. "Just make some of that famous lasagna of yours and they'll be all over you."

Antonio let out a hearty chuckle. "Speaking of which, that's why you two lovebirds are here, isn't it?" Klaus nodded and he gestured around the restaurant with a wave of his arm. "Have a seat anywhere. I'll be right out with your meal."

"Why is it so empty in here today?" Klaus called after him as he disappeared into the kitchen once more, pulling out a chair for Avery at the nearest table. She quietly thanked him as he tucked her seat under her and he gave her a wink before taking a seat across from her.

"I told the regulars I wasn't going to be opening until this evening," Antonio called back over the sound of plates being shuffled around. "Didn't want to be distracted by having to wait on customers since we haven't gotten a chance to visit in a while.

"Besides," he added, backing up through the swinging doors with a large tray balanced on each hand, "I wanted a chance to properly get to know this girl you were telling me so much about in your letters."

Klaus jumped to his feet and went to grab one of the trays from Antonio, ignoring the other man's protests when he insisted he could do it on his own. Avery watched as he expertly laid out the plates of food from his tray in front of her and then uncorked the bottle of wine and poured some into her empty glass.

"You're good at this," she commented, causing Antonio to chuckle.

"He should be. That's how he paid his rent when he lived here."

"You lived here?" she asked, looking to Klaus and taking a sip of her wine.

"The boy was a runaway," Antonio answered before he could, and Klaus gestured toward him as he took his seat across from Avery, allowing the other man to tell the story.

"When he first came in here, he didn't have much more than the clothes on his back and about ten dollars in his pocket." He set a third place setting for himself at the head of the table, between the two of them, then began serving heaping portions of lasagna. "Came here to get a bite to eat with the last of his money, ended up breaking up a fight that broke out between a couple of thugs. Those kind of things were happening more and more often so I told him if he'd be willing to stick around and keep the trouble at bay, maybe help out around the restaurant a bit, I'd let him live in the spare room I got upstairs."

"Of course, I agreed," Klaus continued, offering a piece of freshly-baked bread to Avery. "I was broke and homeless, so it was a good deal – scare off the riffraff, buss a few tables here and there, and I'd get a roof over my head and three meals a day in return."

"Then my beloved Mira passed and Klaus _really_ stepped up," Antonio picked up where he left off. "He began serving customers, running the register, even helped out in the kitchen sometimes. Honestly, I never could have kept this place afloat if it hadn't been for his help. The boy's a saint."

"I just did what anyone else would have done, Antonio," Klaus said, his face turning red at the compliment.

"Yeah, well, they wouldn't have also kept their grades up in school enough to land a full scholarship _and_ formed a gang formidable enough to drive all the worthless garbage out of town," Antonio added, waving a fork at Klaus before turning to Avery. "He ever tell you about his gang?"

"No, but I saw something on television about it," Avery told him, smiling a little and reaching across the table to give Klaus' hand a squeeze, silently reassuring him that she wasn't bothered by any of what Antonio was saying.

"Let me tell you, I'm not the only person who owes this young man, here," he said, leaning closer to her as he spoke. "There were plenty of other businesses who were getting harassed by those punks. Not just businesses, either. Everyday folks were starting to feel afraid to leave their homes because they might end up getting mugged or beat up on just because some thugs were bored. Klaus rounded up some other people who were fed up with us being treated like that and went after them good. After he finally put one of their leaders in the hospital, they decided it wasn't worth the trouble any more and started clearing out."

"Sounds like he was a hero," Avery said, looking at Klaus and smiling proudly.

"He _is_ a hero, and a good man, and you are one lucky little lady to be with him."

"I know I am," Avery said, still looking at Klaus, and she blushed when he met her gaze and smiled at her, threading his fingers through hers as they continued to hold hands across the table.

"Maybe we should eat before it gets cold?" Klaus suggested, and Antonio clapped his hands together loudly.

"Of course! Me and my big mouth keeping you from your meal when you must be starving! Where are my manners? Dig in! Enjoy!"

The three of them continued to enjoy friendly conversation as they ate, which mostly consisted of Antonio telling Avery more flattering – yet embarrassing – stories from Klaus' younger days, one of which was a play-by-play retelling of the fight between Klaus and the gang leader he'd beaten so badly he needed to be hospitalized, complete with miming of the various blows which were exchanged. Eventually they sat with empty plates before them, a bottle of wine downed and a second half-gone. Klaus and Avery were both feeling a warm, comfortable effect from the alcohol, and when she stood up to excuse herself to go to the ladies' room he had no qualms about pulling her down over the table for a lingering kiss before letting her go.

"I like this one," Antonio said once she was out of earshot, looking off in the direction Avery had gone before turning back toward Klaus. " _Much_ better than the last one you brought around."

"You never said you didn't like Rebecca," Klaus told him, finishing off the last of his wine.

Antonio winced. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I could tell you really liked the girl, and the next time I heard from you after you brought her around things had gone badly... I could have been like, 'Yeah, I saw _that_ coming,' but I didn't want to rub salt into the wound."

"You could have said something, Antonio," Klaus said, sighing and leaning back slightly in his chair. "You and Marian are basically the only family I have, and it seems like you _both_ kept your mouths shut about how you saw her. Which is all well and good, you had decent intentions, I get it... but then _I_ was the one who paid for it, in the end."

"Well, I'm telling you this _now_ ," Antonio said, leaning forward and clapping a hand on Klaus' shoulder. " _Don't_ let this one go. Put a ring on her as soon as you can, because she's a keeper."

"You think so?" Klaus asked.

"She's not phony like that last one," Antonio pointed out. "When she laughs at my stories, it's genuine laughter and not something put on for show. She actually _ate_ , too," he added, reaching over and picking up Avery's empty plate, causing Klaus to chuckle.

"And she makes you smile," he concluded, grinning at the younger man. "I swear, I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much in all the years I've known you."

"This is only our first date, so it'll be a while before any talk of putting rings on fingers will come up," Klaus said, straightening up in his chair when he saw Avery heading back to the table. "But she certainly is something special."

"Are we ready go to?" she asked, stopping to stand behind her chair.

"What? Leaving me so soon?" Antonio gasped, grasping dramatically at his chest with one hand.

"She's right, we should be going," Klaus agreed, standing. "The meal was excellent, as always, but we've imposed on you for too long as it is."

Antonio waved away his concerns. "You could never impose on me, boy. Like you said, we're family without the blood. But I get it... the lovebirds want some time alone without an old man telling them crazy stories."

Avery laughed and Antonio stood up and gave her a hug. "You, my dear, are a precious girl. Be good to him, won't you?"

"I will," Avery assured him with a nod. Antonio then pulled Klaus in for a goodbye hug and lingered a little, whispering to him.

"Next time you bring her here, she better have a ring on her finger."

Klaus chuckled and gave Antonio a hearty slap on the back, then stepped back and held out a hand to Avery. She took his hand in hers and waved over her shoulder to Antonio as they left the restaurant, then looked up at Klaus when he let out a heavy sigh once they were back outside.

"What's wrong?" she asked, blinking in confusion. Klaus closed his eyes and shook his head, chuckling quietly.

"I'm sorry you had to sit through all that," he apologized. "I'm sure the last thing you wanted to hear were stories about what a thug I used to be."

"I don't know," she told him, stepping closer to him and placing her hand on his chest. "I sort of liked hearing about it."

"You did?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"It's... kinda sexy," she said, looking up at him with an alluring half-smile, "knowing that there's a bad boy hiding just beneath this debonair exterior of yours."

"Is that so?" Klaus drawled, leaning closer to her.

"Mmhmm," Avery replied, nodding slightly. "It kind of turns me on, knowing that if anyone were to ever besmirch my honor, you'd lay them out flat on the pavement."

"Damn right I would," Klaus told her, his voice low and husky.

He grabbed the hand she had on his chest and pulled her into the alley next to the restaurant, then used the momentum of her body to push her up against the wall, making sure his hand was behind her head to keep her from hitting it against the bricks. A surprised squeak escaped her lips, and he quickly silenced her with his mouth, pressing his body against hers to pin her there as he kissed her deeply. She moaned into the kiss, grinding back against him, and Klaus realized that while he was sober enough to not try to push her _too_ far, he was _just_ drunk enough to be a bit more daring that he usually would in public.

Tangling his fingers into her long hair, he tilted her head slightly to the side and began trailing his kisses away from her mouth and along her jaw. Avery whimpered in protest, but any complaints she likely would have had died in her throat when his tongue flicked out and touched the sensitive spot just behind her earlobe. She gasped softly and Klaus chuckled against the side of her neck, then began placing kisses over her throbbing pulse. Her hips arched toward him again and he groaned and began to gently bite and suck upon the sensitive skin of her neck, fully intending to leave a mark upon her which would show the world that she was his and his only. Grinding back against her, he reached up with his free hand and pushed aside her shawl, then fondled her breast. He could feel her nipple poking through the thin cotton fabric, and rubbed his palm against it, drawing his name from her lips in a breathy moan.

"Avery?"

His head shot up as they both turned to see who had called her name. Standing on the sidewalk at the end of the alley was a woman not much older than him, with short brown hair and brown eyes – the same brown eyes as Avery.

"Mom!" she gasped, reaching up and pushing Klaus' hand off her chest before pulling her shawl back into place and stepping out from between him and the wall, putting on a nervous smile.

"What are you two doing here?" Avery's mother asked, flashing a deceptively sweet smile at Klaus before turning her attention back to her daughter. Klaus knew that smile. Underneath the friendly facade it said, 'keep your hands off my little girl or lose them.'

"We just finished having lunch," Avery explained, making a vain attempt to cover the mark he'd been perfecting upon her neck with her hair. "I was thinking I might take Klaus over to the Sunset Cafe before we head home."

"Oh, so _this_ is Klaus?" her mother wondered, looking him over once more. "Avery has told us so much about you in her letters."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Durand," Klaus greeted her, attempting to relieve some of the tension.

"Please, call me Lila," she insisted, though that damned deceptive smile was still on her face. She then turned to her daughter once more.

"I was just picking up some supplies. Why don't I drop these off at home and pick up your father, and we can meet the two of you at the cafe?" she suggested. "Then we can all get to know one another better."

"I... I suppose we could do that," Avery reluctantly agreed. "If Daddy's feeling up to it, that is."

"Nonsense!" Lila argued, waving off her daughter's concern. "It's been over a year! I'm sure your father would love the chance to see you. He really misses you, you know."

"I know," Avery said, nodding. "I miss him, too."

"Then it's settled!" Lila stated, clapping her hands together. "I'll go home, get changed, and we'll meet you at the cafe in, say... half an hour?"

"Sure," Avery agreed, forcing a smile. "Sounds great."

"See you soon!" Lila called over her shoulder as she took off across the street, waving at a car that honked at her for getting in its way.

"Well," Avery said, turning to Klaus with a heavy sigh. "So much for this being a _good_ first date."


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Avery played with her root beer float, covering the end of the straw with one finger and pulling it out of the tall glass, then lifting her finger up and watching the dark soda fall back in amongst the ice cream. Occasionally, she would steal a glance at the entrance of the cafe, the rapidity of her leg bouncing nervously under the table increasing each time she looked.

"You know," Klaus said, reaching down to place his hand upon her knee in an attempt to steady her nerves, "this seems a little backwards. Shouldn't _I_ be the one who's nervous about meeting your parents?"

"You aren't?" Avery asked him.

"I am," he told her, flashing a nervous smile. "But I'm more worried about what has you so worked up. They're _your_ parents, you shouldn't be this on edge."

"Did you forget what just happened, Klaus?" she wondered, pulling her hair back just enough to flash the dark mark he'd left upon her neck. "My mother caught us going at it _pretty_ hot and heavy back there."

Klaus blushed, but leaned forward and gave her a reassuring kiss. "I _do_ remember. But I like to think that means the worst of this is behind us, now."

"You don't know my mother," Avery reminded him, shaking her head.

"I've dealt with my share of overprotective parents in the past," he told her. "As long as I have you here with me, there's nothing I can't handle. So just take a deep breath and try to relax, okay?"

Avery nodded, taking a slow breath, then leaned forward and kissed him.

"Thank you. I really needed to hear that." She met him halfway for another kiss, then pulled away when she heard the chime above the door sound, signaling the entrance of another patron. She looked toward the entrance, nervously biting her lip, then broke into a smile when a man with thinning silver hair and a cane carefully made his way through the door.

"Daddy!"

She jumped up and rushed over to her father, nearly knocking him over when she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. He chuckled and returned her hug, and Klaus stood from his seat at their table and made his way over to greet the man as her mother entered behind him.

"There's my baby girl," Avery's father said, his voice thick with an accent that was unmistakably country-bred. After a moment he kissed her temple and looked past her to Klaus. "And you must be the young man she's told us all about."

"Klaus Albrecht," he introduced himself, holding out his hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, sir."

Avery's father released her and switched his cane to his left hand to shake hands with him, grinning even more.

"Call me Henry, m'boy, I... Wait." He tilted his head slightly to one side, narrowing his eyes as he took Klaus in again. "You're that perfume guy, aren't cha?"

"I am," Klaus said with a nod, blushing a little. "I take it you've heard of my work?"

"Here and there, mostly from the classier dames at Delilah's gallery shows," he turned to look at his wife. "I honestly feel kinda silly I didn't realize it before, his name bein' Klaus and all."

"I knew who he was from her first letter," Lila said, taking her husband's arm in hers and leading him along as they followed the younger couple back to their table. Klaus pulled out a chair for him to sit in and he thanked the younger man, who then helped the two women with their seats before taking his own next to Avery, opposite her father.

"Such a gentleman," Henry commented to his daughter, and she smiled at Klaus.

"He is."

"See, now aren't cha glad I made you leave home?" he asked her, and Klaus looked from him to Avery and back again, confused.

"I'm sorry, you said you _made_ her leave home?" he wondered. "Avery said she'd had enough of the city and decided to move to the country for a change of pace."

"That's true," Henry said, nodding. "She made the decision to leave home on her own. Even had everythin' all set up and ready to go when I had my heart attack."

"Your what?" Klaus asked, blinking and turning to Avery.

"He had a heart attack a couple of days before I moved to Oak Tree Town," she told him. "A bad one. Needed to have bypass surgery and everything."

"I take it she didn't tell ya that?"

"I didn't tell _anyone_ in town," Avery answered as Klaus shook his head. "I didn't want people thinking I was feeding them some sort of sob story, looking for pity."

"Well, she wasn't gonna go," Henry continued. "I woke up in my room and she was right by my bed, fast asleep all curled up in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs. Remember what I told you, Avery?"

"You mean _after_ you threw the box of tissues at me to wake me up?" she asked him, chuckling a little. "Yeah, I remember."

"I told her that life's too damn short and she needed to get out there and live and follow her dreams," Henry said, looking at Klaus and smiling. "And I'm sure glad I did, 'cause now look at her: a successful farmer, startin' her own winery, _and_ she's landed herself a fine man."

Avery's mother scoffed at his final comment, and Klaus turned his attention to the woman to find her sitting with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed firmly over her chest.

"Mom, why don't we go order something for you and Daddy?" Avery suggested, standing from her chair and looking pointedly at her mother. Lila nodded and stood, tugging sharply at the bottom of her jacket to straighten it.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Avery," she said in a clipped tone. Her husband reached for her hand and waited for her to look at him, and he shook his head as they shared a look.

"Oh, relax, Henry," she told him, leaning over and giving him a brief kiss before following their daughter toward the counter at the far side of the cafe. Klaus watched them, his mouth set in a firm line and his brow furrowed, and saw Avery grab her mother's arm and detour her in the direction of the ladies' room.

"I gotta apologize for my wife," Henry said, drawing his attention back across the table. "She's always been like this whenever Avery brings home a new boyfriend."

"Has she?" Klaus wondered, reaching out and grasping Avery's glass and pulling it toward himself, peering into it curiously. He had insisted they simply share the root beer float she'd ordered, but instead of drinking it she had ended up nervously stirring and playing with the drink until the ice cream melted.

"My little girl got her heart broken when she was younger by a selfish bastard who was only after one thing," Henry explained, leaning closer to the younger man. "So now Delilah sees every man as someone who just wants in her pants and will either leave her when she refuses, or leave her after she finally gives in."

"I see," Klaus said, trying his best not to shift uncomfortably in his chair. That had been him, once. _He_ had been the one who either left them when they refused to give him what he wanted or shortly after he got it. Most of his previous lovers had been aware of what the true depths of the relationship were, but he was sure there were probably more than a few who had also been misled by his charming smile. He momentarily wondered how many broken hearts he had left in his wake, but shook the thought from his head and turned back to Avery's father with a determined look in his eyes.

"I'm not like that," he assured him.

"Never said you were," Henry assured him, smiling. "After all, you sure did take your sweet time finally confessin' your feelings to her, from what she said in her letters."

"I was concerned that, with my being so much older than her, she wouldn't have been happy with me," Klaus told him, choosing to leave out his other concerns he had been forced to address earlier in the day.

Henry let out a hearty chuckle and leaned back in his chair, grinning at Klaus. "My boy, age don't matter a bit when it comes to love. Did Avery ever tell you how her mother and I got together?"

"She mentioned there was a considerable age difference between you and your wife, but that's all," Klaus replied.

"I was a friend of her father's," Henry expounded. "I never expected to fall in love with her, and believe me... there was a _lot_ of guilt when I realized I was seein' a girl I'd basically watched grow up in that sorta light. I felt like a right old pervert."

"I know what you mean," Klaus said, chuckling a bit. "I admit that my own feelings toward Avery made me feel... uncomfortable, at times."

"But then I realized that she felt the same way, too, and all bets were off," Henry continued, smiling fondly at the memory. "We were in love. At first, we tried to hide it. Snuck around to see each other without her parents knowin'. But then she ended up gettin' pregnant with Avery and we ran off and got married. People told us it was a mistake, but I knew I was gonna marry her, anyway. We just sorta got the order of things mixed up a bit."

Klaus blinked in shock at the confession. "Does Avery know all this?"

"She does," Henry replied, nodding. "She's a smart girl. Figured out when she was about ten that her birth date and our anniversary didn't quite line up right, so we told her everythin'. The only reason we didn't tell her from the start was because we didn't want her thinkin' she was a mistake and unwanted."

"I'm sure she never would have felt that way," Klaus assured him, smiling. "You both seem like very devoted parents."

"We do love our girl," Henry agreed. "Would have been nice to have a few others runnin' around the house, too, but... it wasn't in the cards. Hopefully you two will have better luck, in that area."

He winked at Klaus and Klaus suddenly felt very uncomfortable. First Antonio had been pressuring him to marry Avery, and now her own father seemed eager for them to start having children. He wasn't even sure he _wanted_ kids. Every interaction he'd had with them had been awkward. He never knew what to say or how to act around them, so the thought of having children of his own scared him. He couldn't very well say that to Avery's father, though – not when the man was looking at him in such a hopeful way. So he did the only thing he could.

Putting on a charming smile, he nodded at Henry and hoped that Avery would return soon to save him from the rest of the conversation.

 

* * *

 

"Avery Lavelle Durand, let go of me this instant!"

Avery pulled her mother along by the arm to the ladies' room at the back of the cafe, ignoring the way her full name was being called in a threatening growl, and didn't release her until they were finally in the restroom, the door closed firmly behind them.

"Mother, I need you to _stop_ this," she said through clenched teeth, keeping her eyes averted.

"Stop what?" her mother asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You _know_ what!" Avery replied, finally looking at her, her brown eyes flashing in anger. "You _always_ do this! You immediately assume the worst of every man I date and then end up driving them away."

"I do not!" Lila insisted.

" _Yes_ , _you do_!" Avery argued, pointing a finger in her face. "Do you know what Darren said to me when he broke up with me? He said, 'I care about you, but your mother is a complete psycho.'"

Lila sighed and rolled her eyes, looking away from her, then wandered over to the mirror above the sinks to examine her makeup.

"You don't understand, Avery," she said, meeting the identical eyes of her daughter in the mirror's reflection. "What do you even know about this man?"

"I know more than _you_ do about him," Avery told her, going to stand next to her. "I know that he didn't have an easy childhood, and he's been through some rough spots in his life... but I also know that he's a good man. He cares about me and I love him, so _please_ do not screw this up for me."

Lila suddenly turned to look at her daughter upon hearing the desperate, pleading note in her voice and found tears welling up in her eyes.

"I have _never_ felt this way about anyone before," Avery continued, her voice shaking. "It's thrilling and it scares me to death at the same time, and that's how I _know_ it's real. He's the one, Mom. I can feel it. So I swear... If you drive him away, I will _never_ forgive you."

Lila sighed and stepped closer to her, pulling her into her arms to hold her and stroke her hair. "Don't cry, sweetie. I just want to protect you."

"I know you do," Avery said, pulling away just enough to wipe the tears from her eyes. "But I'm almost twenty-two years old. I'm not sixteen any more. I think I'm a good enough judge of character now to know which men are just trying to use me for sex."

"We'll see," Lila remarked, then kissed her on her forehead. Avery looked confused, but she continued speaking before her daughter could question her choice of words.

"You're right. Klaus doesn't deserve to be prejudged based on the mistakes of some horny teenage boys. I'm sorry."

"Thank you, but you really should apologize to _him_ , too," Avery pointed out.

Lila sighed, but nodded in agreement. "I know. Say, why don't you two come home tonight and have dinner with us?"

"Why?" Avery asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Consider it a peace offering," her mother told her. "What's his favorite dish?"

"Bouillabaisse," Avery answered, causing her mother to frown a little and make a thoughtful sound.

"I think we have everything for that," she finally said. "But how about you? What would you like for dinner, since you haven't been home in so long?"

"I'm fine with bouillabaisse, Mom," Avery replied. "It'll just be nice to eat a home-cooked meal with you and Daddy."

"Yeah, right," her mother said sarcastically, pulling Avery to her and chuckling as she hugged her. "You just want to be sure I don't poison him."

"Something like that," Avery said, laughing and winking at her as she pulled away. The two of them remained silent a long time, Avery taking some slow breaths to calm herself as she wiped away the rest of her tears, glancing at her reflection to be sure she hadn't messed up Marian's expertly-applied makeup. Lila stood behind her, combing her fingers through her daughter's hair and arranging it over one shoulder to hide the mark Klaus had made.

"So we're okay now?" her mother finally asked after a while, turning Avery around to look at her. "Because I think we should get back out there before your father starts telling Klaus about how you once 'married' your toy lamb."

"I'm sure he'll wait until we get home for that," Avery told her, going to the restroom door and holding it open. "There's pictures, after all."


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

Sure enough, Avery's father brought out the photo albums as soon as they reached the townhouse where she'd spent the better part of her childhood. Klaus held her close as she blushed all over while her father regaled him with stories about the little games she used to make up to play with her stuffed animals. He even showed off the dreaded pictures of her with a dish towel tucked in the front waistband of her favorite pink sweatpants and a doily on her head, which she had declared to make her a 'bride,' her 'groom' being a small toy lamb she called – appropriately enough – Lamby. Klaus chuckled at the story and its accompanying pictures, kissing the top of her head when she attempted to bury her face against his shoulder to hide her mortification.

"She sure was a cute little bride," Henry said with a proud grin, setting the photo album aside. "She'll be even more beautiful when the real thing happens, though. Now... What else have I got here..."

Avery jumped up from the sofa where she and Klaus were sitting as her father began searching for another album full of embarrassing childhood photos to show off.

"Daddy, I'm going to give Klaus a tour of the house before dinner," she announced, grasping Klaus' hand and pulling him to his feet before her father could protest.

"Oh... Good idea, sweetie," he told her, sounding a little disappointed, but smiling anyway as he turned to Klaus. "I'd do it myself, but with the bad leg getting' up and down the stairs would take a while."

"That's fine," Klaus told him. "Thank you for the stories. They were very entertaining."

"I got plenty more where that came from," Henry promised. "Avery was an imaginative little girl."

"Perhaps over dinner, then?" Klaus suggested, causing Avery to make a sad, defeated sound as she once more hid against his shoulder. He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, kissing her on the head again before placing his hand under her chin to tilt her face up toward his and deliver a proper – albeit brief – kiss upon her lips.

"Guess I better go get the tour before Avery dies of humiliation," he told Henry, then allowed himself to be pulled in the direction of the staircase. He followed her upstairs and down the hallway, curiously peeking into rooms as she pointed out their use while walking past each one.

"Mom's studio, Mom and Daddy's room, bathroom," she listed off each one as they walked by, then stopped at the final, closed door at the end of the hall. Klaus watched her open the door, then found himself unceremoniously pulled into the room. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting, taking in the sights around him. The walls were a dark green color and sported several framed photographs and paintings, as well as a corkboard which displayed prize ribbons of various colors. He wandered over to get a better look at some of the photographs while Avery closed the door.

"Is this your cousin?" he asked, pointing to a picture of Avery and another girl of a similar age, who looked almost the same as her. Their eyes were different colors and the other girl's hair was a lighter shade of blonde, but aside from some very small details their facial structures were nearly identical.

"Yep, that's me and Addie right before she moved away to start her farm," Avery explained, coming up behind him.

"You two really could be sisters," he remarked, turning to smile at her but finding her looking at him with an unexpectedly serious expression on her face.

"Aunt Sophie and Mom are sisters, which is probably why she and I look so much alike," she reasoned, grabbing his hand once more and pulling him in the direction of the bed. "However, I really don't want to talk about that right now."

Klaus let out a surprised grunt when she suddenly shoved him back onto the bed, then laughed when she crawled up onto the mattress with him and straddled him, placing her hands on either side of his head and looking down at him with a little smirk.

"Well, now, _this_ is an unexpected role-reversal," he said, reaching up to thread his fingers into her hair. He attempted to bring her down to kiss him, but she pulled away at the last second and sat up, keeping herself carefully balanced atop him.

"I need to make sure you see me as more than just some cute little girl who plays with stuffed animals all the time," she told him, rocking her hips in an arousing manner and drawing a moan from him. "Besides, I've always wanted to have a boy in my bed and now I'm too old for my mother to protest to us being alone up here."

Klaus sat up, bringing one of his knees up behind her at the same time to prevent her from toppling backwards off the bed at the sudden movement. Avery gasped as she was jostled in his lap, reaching up and grasping his cravat to steady herself, and he delivered a lust-filled kiss to her mouth which lasted far too short for her liking.

"Is that what you see _me_ as?" he whispered against her lips, pulling just out of her reach each time she attempted to complete the contact. "A boy?"

"Oh, no," Avery said, shaking her head and whimpering when he raised his hips slightly off the bed to press himself against her. "You are most _certainly_ a man, Klaus Albrecht."

"I'm _your_ man," he amended, bending his head to kiss along her collarbone toward the strap of her dress. "And yes, I do think you're cute. But I also think you're incredibly sexy and an evil little temptress."

"How so?" Avery asked, letting out a laugh that turned into a moan when Klaus' kisses dipped lower along the neckline of her dress.

"There are so many things I want to do to you," he groaned, nuzzling one of her breasts briefly before raising his head to kiss her. The lust from his previous kiss was gone, in spite of the way things had been progressing, and was instead replaced by an almost cautious tenderness.

"Klaus? What's wrong?" Avery voiced her concern at the sudden shift in his demeanor when he broke the kiss and began staring longingly into her eyes.

"You're not feeling pressured, are you?" he asked her. "This unexpected aggressiveness isn't just a knee-jerk response to what happened outside Antonio's because you're worried what will happen if you don't reciprocate, is it?"

Avery sighed and slid off his lap to sit next to him on the bed. "My father said something to you, didn't he?"

"He told me why your mother is so protective of you," Klaus told her, lying on his side and patting the empty space next to him on the bed. Avery settled down next to him and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

"I admit, I like sex as much as the next man," he said, sliding his hand down to her hip. "But I need you to know that, above all else, I love you. There's no pressure. It'll happen when we're both ready for it to happen."

"I know," she replied, snuggling close to him. "I'm not feeling pressured, I promise. You just make me feel so... I don't know."

"Horny?" he suggested with a laugh.

Avery laughed along with him. "Yeah, pretty much."

Klaus suddenly moved on the bed, rolling Avery onto her back and placing himself over her, grinning wolfishly as her arms reached up and encircled his neck.

"I must say, being here with you in your old room certainly does make me feel like a teenager again," he told her, leaning down to kiss her briefly. "Maybe I should see if I can get to second base without your parents walking in on us."

Avery giggled and pulled him back down, kissing him repeatedly. Klaus returned each one, gradually prolonging the contact until they were finally locked in a gentle, yet passionate, embrace. Avery's fingers tangled in his dark hair as they slowly teased one another's tongues, taking turns coaxing each other into a deeper kiss, with Klaus pulling away each time things started to go beyond a slow, languid pace.

"Avery! Come help set the table for dinner!" they heard her mother call, and Avery groaned in protest against Klaus' mouth.

"Just a minute," she replied, though her voice was only loud enough to carry to his ears. She pulled him in for one last, deep kiss and moaned when he raised himself up higher above her, pressing his knee between her legs suggestively before pulling away as her mother's voice called out once more.

"Avery! Don't make me come up there!"

"I'm coming!" Avery shouted back. Klaus chuckled quietly at her choice of words and she grasped him by his shoulders and shoved him over and off of her.

"You've been spending too much time around Raeger," she told him, pointing an accusatory finger at him even though she was smiling.

"I didn't say anything," Klaus pointed out, moving to get off the bed and straightening his coat, then running a hand back through his hair as he followed her downstairs.

They were greeted by the sight of her father setting the table by himself, carefully placing out each dish one by one. Avery rushed over to help him, admonishing him for doing it at all while she was there. Henry insisted he was fine and she could have stayed upstairs a bit longer if she wanted to, then caught Klaus' eye and gave him a knowing wink. Lila soon emerged from the kitchen carrying a large, steaming pot of bouillabaisse and set it on top of a trivet in the center of the table, next to a large salad bowl and a bread basket full of rolls. Klaus insisted on helping the women with their chairs, then took a seat next to Avery – this time placing himself across from her mother.

"Why don't we say grace?" Henry suggested, holding his hands out toward Avery and his wife. They each took the hand offered to them, and Avery held out her other hand to Klaus, which he took with a smile. He then offered his opposite hand to her mother, who took it with some reluctance.

"Oh, great Harvest Goddess," Henry began the prayer, "we thank you for the blessings of food and family you have bestowed upon us this day, and ask that you continue to bless our daughter with your grace and love as she returns to her new life. And we also ask that you look favorably upon this love she has found and grant them a future full of joy and happiness, much as you have for me and my dear Lila. Amen."

"Was that last part really necessary, Daddy?" Avery asked as they began to serve themselves, her cheeks turning pink.

"Never hurts to ask for the Goddess' favor in things, right?" he asked, winking at her and making her blush even more.

"This looks amazing, Lila," Klaus complimented the meal, hoping to steer the conversation in another direction to save Avery from any further embarrassment.

"Thank you, Klaus," she said nonchalantly as she passed the basket of rolls to him. "Avery told me this was your favorite, so I hope it is to your liking."

"Home-cooked meals are always better tasting, I find," he told her with a smile, though she didn't return the gesture. Instead, she turned to her husband and asked him to pass the butter.

Klaus frowned at the cold response to his comment, and suddenly felt Avery's hand upon his leg under the table. He reached down and took it in his, giving it a gentle squeeze to let her know he was okay, and she reluctantly pulled away after a moment so she could eat.

The rest of their dinner was a more jovial affair, to Klaus' relief, with Henry telling more stories about Avery's childhood adventures, some of which included her cousin. He also told a few stories about when he and his wife had been courting, which made Lila blush and beg him to stop even as she was smiling at the memories, herself. Klaus felt a twinge of jealousy toward Avery for having grown up with such a stable, loving family, but as he took her hand in his once more while they all sat around drinking wine at the table after eating he had the same distinct feeling he'd experienced earlier in the day when they were visiting with Antonio: He was home.

Avery threaded her fingers through his and Klaus turned to look at her. She smiled at him, a wistful look in her eyes, and he brought her hand to his lips to kiss the back of it. They continued to gaze into each other's eyes, lost in the moment until the sound of Lila loudly clearing her throat brought their attention back to the other two people in the room.

"Klaus," she said, rising from her seat, "would you mind helping me with the dishes?"

"Not at all," Klaus replied, standing from his chair, as well. Avery gave him a concerned look and he bent down to kiss her forehead, then gathered up their dishes and followed her mother into the kitchen.

"This can't be good," she remarked once the door closed behind them and stood up, intending to follow them and offer to help, as well.

"Avery, sweetie, sit down," her father told her, stopping her in her tracks. She turned back to him and shook her head.

"Daddy, you know exactly what's going to happen in there," she said, pointing at the door.

"I do, and that's why I want you to stay here with me," he replied, using his hand to move his bad leg as he turned sideways in his seat. He then patted his lap and held his arm out to beckon her over. Avery hesitated, biting her lip and looking warily at the kitchen door once more before going to sit on her father's knee, causing him to chuckle.

"You're a bit heavier than the last time we did this," he told her.

"You're okay with her treating him like... like some sort of criminal?" Avery asked him, refusing to give in to his playful charm. Henry sighed and shifted a bit, causing Avery to stand and instead take a seat in her mother's empty chair.

"Way I see it, she's doin' you a favor," he said.

"How?"

"None of those other boys deserved you, Avery," he explained, once more turning in his chair to face her as he spoke. "Your mother and I both knew that. So she tested them in order to prove it."

"By being a completely psychotic bitch to them?" she wondered, recalling what her last boyfriend had told her about the conversation her mother had with him.

Henry nodded. "If they love you, it shouldn't matter if your mother's a bit... intense. It's _you_ they supposedly want to be with, after all, not her. If they can't deal with it, if they can't look past that obstacle and fight against her to prove their love for you, then they never really loved you to start with."

"And you think Klaus will fail this little test, too?" Avery asked him.

"What do _you_ think?" he asked, in return.

"He'll fight for me," she told him, nodding with conviction as she thought about how right it felt being with him. Surely, that kind of love was worth fighting for.

"I think so, too," her father agreed, smiling at her.

"Now, then," he added, reaching over and tweaking her nose playfully. "How much longer am I gonna have to wait 'til you two give me some beautiful little grandbabies to play with?"

"Daddy..." Avery sighed, her blush prompting him to let out a hearty chuckle.

 

* * *

 

"Where would you like me to put these, Lila?" Klaus asked Avery's mother once they were in the kitchen, looking around for a place to set down the dishes he'd brought in with him. She placed the ones in her hands into the sink, then turned and took his from him and added them to the pile without a word before turning to face him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"It's _Mrs. Durand_ ," she corrected him haughtily.

Klaus' posture immediately stiffened. He'd guessed that her earlier apology for her initial rudeness toward him had been nothing more than a show for Avery's benefit, which seemed to have been confirmed by her cold brush-off at the start of dinner, but she'd loosened up so much over the course of the evening that he had assumed whatever bad blood there was between them had been forgotten. Apparently, that was far from the case.

"I'm not sure what I've done to offend you," he told her, "but I would very much like a chance to make amends."

Lila scoffed and shook her head. "You really are a piece of work, you know that? How many women have actually fallen for this 'proper gentleman' bullshit?"

Klaus' eyes went wide at his sudden realization as to why Avery's mother seemed to dislike him so much.

"I take it from the look on your face you finally figured out that I know your dirty little secret, Klaus," she said, a smug look of satisfaction on her face. "And I'm willing to bet my daughter doesn't have a clue, does she?"

"No, ma'am," he replied, no longer able to maintain eye contact with her. He lowered his gaze to the floor, his posture slumping like that of a child being scolded by an authority figure.

"I figured she probably didn't, because I sincerely doubt she'd be with you right now if she knew what a manipulative, whoring bastard you are."

"I'm not like that any more," he told her with a shake of his head, raising his gaze slightly to meet hers again.

"Men like you don't change," Lila insisted, stepping closer to him. "You might _want_ to, but you can't. Eventually, you'll get bored with her and then toss her aside for the next hot, young piece of pussy that crosses your path. Just like you always do."

"I _love_ Avery," he said through clenched teeth, balling his hands into fists at his sides.

"Really?" she questioned him. "So is that why I found you practically dry humping her in an alley this afternoon?" She shook her head, letting out a little chuckle. "You don't love her. You're in complete lust with her. I bet you were putting the moves on her again when the two of you were upstairs before dinner."

"It was actually _Avery_ who instigated, that time," he informed her, smirking at the shocked expression on the woman's face. A moment later she had recomposed herself and got right in his face.

"But you didn't do a damn thing to try to stop her, though, did you?" she accused him.

"What do you want me to say, Lila?" he asked her defiantly. "That I'm sexually attracted to your daughter? That I'd fuck her tonight if she asked me to? I _do_ find her attractive, and if she offered herself to me right now I would be pretty damn tempted to take her up on it... but I wouldn't ever take advantage of her, because no matter what _you_ might believe, I really do love her and I'm not the same 'whoring bastard' I used to be."

"I hope, for your sake, that's the truth," Lila told him, poking him sharply in the chest with one finger as her brown eyes flashed angrily. "Because if you take my baby girl's innocence and then drop her like a bad habit, I am going to cut off your dick and force-feed it to you."

Klaus continued to stare her down, his jaw clenched in anger. He knew he had no one to blame but himself for the way the woman was acting toward him, but no matter how much he insisted he was a changed man and that he truly lover her daughter he knew his words would fall upon deaf ears. It seemed only his actions would suffice in silencing her protests, but he had no idea what he could possibly do. He couldn't very well erase his past mistakes. Pointing out his previous relationship with Rebecca as evidence that he was a changed man seemed like a bad idea, too, because he could tell Lila Druand was the sort of person who would twist his words around to make it seem like he'd only been with her for self-serving reasons.

"Avery deserves to know the truth about what kind of animal you really are," Lila told him, finally breaking the tense silence. "Let _her_ decide if she can handle it."

"You're right, she does deserve the truth," Klaus agreed. "But it's going to come from _me_ , not you."

He turned on his heel and made his way out of the kitchen, pausing briefly before he opened the door to take a deep breath and put on as neutral an expression as he could muster. Avery immediately popped up from where she was sitting next to her father and ran over to him, grasping him by the lapels of his long, green coat and looking up at him pleadingly.

"Please, make him stop," she requested, glancing back over her shoulder at her father, who was laughing so hard he was shaking in his chair.

"What's he done?" Klaus asked, his voice unusually monotone. Avery blinked at him, concern lining her young face.

"He's just teasing me about us... but what's wrong?" she wondered. Klaus looked at her and sighed, shaking his head and closing his eyes as he brought a weary hand to his head.

"Just a bit tired, I suppose," he brushed off her concern, opening his eyes and giving her a small smile. "It's been a long day. We should probably get going soon, actually, so we don't miss the last train back out of the city."

Avery looked at the grandfather clock situated nearby and her eyes went wide when she saw the time.

"Shit... Is it really that late?" she released her grip on his jacket and went over to her father, kissing him on the cheek. "I'm sorry, Daddy, but we need to get going. If I'm not back in time, my animals will fall asleep out in the field and it'll take me forever to wake them up and get them back into the barn."

Henry chuckled, nodding. "It's fine, sweetie. I remember what farm life's like. Don't forget to say goodbye to your mother, though." He managed to stand up at the table and held out his hand. "Klaus, it was a pleasure meetin' ya, finally."

Klaus crossed over to him and shook his hand while Avery headed to the kitchen to tell her mother they were leaving, but Lila emerged from the room just as she reached the door, drying her hands on a towel.

"You two heading back?" she asked them, giving Avery a hug and a kiss on her cheek.

"Yeah, I need to look after some things back at the farm."

"Next time, you should arrange for someone to help out so you two can spend the night here instead of having to rush back," Henry suggested.

"Why?" Avery whined. "So you can continue to annoy me with your talk of marriage and babies?"

Klaus looked from her to her father and back again, figuring that was what she had been wanting him to save her from when he first emerged from the kitchen. She flashed an apologetic smile at him and blushed, stepping forward to take his hand.

"Henry," Lila addressed her husband in an exasperated tone. "Please tell me you didn't spend the entire time the two of you were alone together out here trying to pressure our daughter into marrying this man just so she can give you some grandchildren."

"I ain't no spring chicken no more, Delilah," he reminded his wife, slowly lowering himself back into his chair at the table. "Is it so much to ask that I get to see _one_ little grandbaby before my time's come?"

"We really should get going," Avery insisted, tugging Klaus along behind her. He turned back slightly and bade her parents goodbye as he was dragged out of the house, receiving a warm wave from her father and a cold stare from her mother, then looked to Avery as she pulled the front door open and waited for him to precede her outside before following him.

"I am _so sorry_ , Klaus," she apologized once the door was shut behind her, linking her arm through his and walking with him in the direction of the nearby train station.

"What for?" he wondered.

"He thinks that just because I'm over the age of twenty and unmarried, I'm going to end up some sort of sad, old spinster," she said, referring to her father. "And I _really_ don't get his obsession with wanting grandchildren all of a sudden."

"Perhaps his heart attack has something to do with that," Klaus suggested. "He's felt his own mortality twice, now, and – like he said – he's not getting any younger. He told me he and your mother actually wanted more children of their own, so I suppose he could also be trying to use you to make up for that failing."

"It's not like you and I have been together long enough to even discuss having children, though... or marriage, for that matter!" she said to him as they turned in to the station. Klaus purchased their tickets back to the stop nearest to Oak Tree Town, and they quietly waited on the platform for their train.

"Do you _want_ children?" he asked her quietly after a moment, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Do you?" she asked in return, turning to look at him. Klaus remained silent for a bit, then turned his head and found the unspoken answer to his question in her hopeful eyes. It had been silly of him to ask, because deep down he'd already known the answer to the question. Family was important to her, so of course she wanted children of her own.

"I don't know," he finally admitted to her. "I've never really given it much thought before today. You know I didn't have a very good family life, growing up."

"I know," she said, looking away and back out toward the direction their train would be coming from.

He knew she had been hoping for him to happily declare he wanted a whole house full of kids, but he didn't want to lie to her. As he looked at her, though, his mind began wandering. He imagined what she might look like, round and full with his child. He wondered what it would be like to place his hand there and feel the life they created together moving within her womb. He envisioned himself holding her close as she nursed a baby with his dark hair and her soft brown eyes... the very picture of the sort of idyllic family life he'd wished for ever since he was a boy.

"Avery," he softly called her name and waited for her to turn to look at him. "I _do_ want children."

She smiled at him and leaned up to kiss him just as their train began to pull into the station.

"So do I."

They waited for the train to stop, then boarded and found an empty car to sit in toward the back. Klaus let out a tired sigh as he sat down, and Avery stifled a yawn as she took a seat beside him. He smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, wordlessly coaxing her to rest her head against his shoulder. She smiled up at him briefly before snuggling against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, and Klaus continued to quietly hold her close as he stared out the window, thinking about everything that had happened that day.

He truly did love her. That much was even more clear to him now, with the future he could see them having together. He still worried, though, that she might not feel the same toward him. She said she loved him, too, but what if she was mistaken? She'd admitted that he made her feel aroused, but what if that was just it? What if her inexperience was causing her to mix up her lust for him with actual love? Her mother had been worried that his feelings would change once they had sex, but Klaus was more concerned that Avery would be the one who had a change of heart. He knew he couldn't let that happen. He was determined to be sure that when he did finally take her to bed, it would be an act of the deepest love on both their parts.

He knew it wouldn't be easy. Something about her innocence seemed to call to the animal instincts within him, stirring his most carnal desires to the surface with the barest of kisses and the softest of moans. It would take all of his willpower not to give in to his urges to make her his completely. He knew there would be countless nights where he would end up needing to pleasure himself to thoughts of her, much like he'd been doing for the past year. The only difference was now he would have to constantly remind himself to not go to her and act out those fantasies, no matter how receptive he knew she might be.

Then again, he might not even have to worry about any of that once he finally revealed the rest of the truth about his past to her, for if Lila had made one valid point during their entire argument, it had been that Avery really did deserve to know everything about who he was prior to her coming into his life. He was actually ashamed to have to admit his history to her, to have to tell her that if she had met him when he was her age he would have wanted nothing more than to fuck her and then quickly move on to the next pretty girl in line.

He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh as he leaned his head against the cool glass of the window next to him. Avery had said his past didn't matter. She'd even assured him she didn't mind the fact he used to be a bit violent. His anger had been put to good use, though. He'd used it to help out the people who lived and worked near Antonio's. There was _nothing_ good about his past sexual exploits, however. He'd used women like they were nothing but toys, casting them aside like a bored toddler after their novelty wore off.

Sure, things had been different with Rebecca, but even his initial attraction to her had been sexually motivated. Then again, so had his attraction to Avery, for that matter. But, unlike with Rebecca, he'd waited to act upon things until his feelings had developed into more than just a desire to hear her moaning his name as he ploughed her. His confession had been sincere, a declaration of love he never thought he'd feel safe making again, and as he looked to her sleeping in his arms the one regret he felt was that he hadn't told her sooner.

He only hoped that her love for him held the same amount of certainty, or else he was likely going to end up with his heart broken yet again.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

Avery sighed a bit as she brushed her rabbit's soft fur, watching the chickens peck away happily at their feed nearby in the coop. She hadn't seen Klaus in three days, since they returned from their date, but it wasn't his fault. She had been avoiding him, making a point to go into town when she knew he was usually busy working at home. She'd also been avoiding everyone in town except for Otmar, because she couldn't very well fertilize her crops without purchasing fertilizer and he was the only source of it in town. She wouldn't be able to avoid the rest of town much longer, though. The items she needed to ship off with Asche and the other traders were piling up, and at least one of her land permits was about to come due for renewing. She was dreading having to face Marian and Raeger, though, because she knew they would demand to know how she enjoyed herself with Klaus on their date.

"Here she is!"

Avery jumped, startled by the voice, and snagged the brush in her rabbit's fur. The small rabbit squealed and jumped out of her arms, then made a break for the open door of the coop. Raeger quickly bent down and scooped up the animal before it could make its escape, then smiled as he handed it back to Avery.

"I'm so sorry, Rolo," she apologized, kissing the rabbit between its ears before taking it over to set it by its feed bin.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Raeger, turning back to him. "And who are you talking to?"

"So you _are_ alive!" Marian exclaimed, pushing past Raeger and going over to Avery to wrap his arms around her in one of his overly-tight hugs. Avery reluctantly returned the gesture, cursing up a storm in the back of her mind. She had been avoiding seeing them individually, and so they decided to come looking for her _together_ – which was infinitely worse.

"What are you two doing here?" she repeated her question, feigning surprise as she directed it toward both of them.

"You _know_ why we're here," Marian said, winking at her and putting an arm around her shoulders, which she immediately shrugged off as she started toward the door of the coop. "Now, dish!"

"Shouldn't you both be working, right now?"

"It's Wednesday," Raeger reminded her, stepping aside to let her out of the coop and then following her outside. "I'm off, today."

"And what about you?" she asked Marian.

"I'm taking a personal day," Marian answered, closing the door of the coop behind him. "After all, I can't take not knowing about what happened any more."

"I'm surprised you haven't already bugged Klaus for the details," Avery remarked, ignoring their presence as best she could while she continued doing her morning chores. She opened a bag of fertilizer to spread on her crops, causing Marian to gag and cough, which gave her a smug sense of satisfaction. Raeger stepped forward, pushing his rolled sleeves up even higher on his arms.

"Can I help?" he asked, and she nodded as she flashed him a grateful smile. She knew it was likely a self-serving gesture, a way to butter her up so she'd talk about what happened on her date, but she was still happy to have a couple of extra hands to help her get her work done more quickly.

"I _tried_ talking to Klaus," Marian managed to reply after a moment, still coughing a little. "He refuses to tell me anything. He even told me to 'fuck off!' Can you believe it?"

"I believe it," Avery said, then turned toward him. "And now _I_ am telling you: Fuck off, Marian."

"What the hell happened between you two?" Marian asked her, both his eyes and Raeger's wide in shock at what Avery had just said.

"Nothing happened."

"Bullshit," Raeger chimed in, shaking his head and going to wash his hands off at the nearby well pump, then drying them on his apron.

"No, Raeger... _Nothing happened_. That's the problem."

Marian held up his hands in front of him. "Okay, stop. Back up. Start from the beginning. What do you mean by 'nothing happened'?"

"I mean when we finally got back here that night, he _barely_ kissed me goodnight, which makes no damn sense because we had been going at it pretty good a couple of times throughout the day." She ran her hand back through her hair, then grimaced when she realized she hadn't washed it off, first, and now had fertilizer streaked through her hair. "I don't understand what went wrong! Actually, I think I have an idea but..."

"But?" Raeger prompted, wetting his handkerchief and handing it to her so she could wipe some of the fertilizer out of her hair.

"I don't want to believe that he would be so... I don't know... indecisive?"

"I am _beyond_ confused, right now," Marian said, looking to Raeger for help. He merely shrugged helplessly before turning back to Avery.

"Why don't you take a deep breath and attempt to explain what you're trying to say a bit more clearly to us?" he suggested.

"Look," she told them, pulling her hair aside to show them the fading mark on her neck. "Klaus gave me this in an _alley_ next to the restaurant we went to. We made out on my bed in my old room at my parents' house. But when we got back here, instead of giving me a _real_ goodnight kiss, I barely got a peck on my lips."

"So what changed?" Raeger wondered.

"My mother," Avery answered his question, her voice shaking in anger. "My stupid, bitch mother must have said something to him when she had him helping her with the dishes after we had dinner with my parents."

"He's already met your parents?" Raeger asked, raising an eyebrow. "Wow, you two sure are moving fast."

"It wasn't planned," Avery explained, waving her hands about in exasperation. "My mom caught us making out in that alley, which inadvertently led to the dinner invitation."

Marian chuckled. "Your _mom_ caught you two going at it? _That_ must have been embarrassing."

"At least she didn't catch them having sex," Raeger said, grimacing. "I've had that happen once or twice. _Not_ fun."

Avery let out a frustrated growl and waved them off. "Just... Go away! Both of you!"

"Not happening," Raeger told her, quickly moving to block her path as she attempted to make a break for her house. He reached up and placed his hands on her shoulders when she attempted to sidestep around him, firmly gripping her so she couldn't get away. "Come on, Avery. Talk to us... Talk to _me_. Forget Marian for a sec, and tell me – as your friend – why you're so upset."

"Because I _know_ my mother said something to him and it likely ended up scaring him off," she repeated. "I can't, for the life of me, figure out what, though."

"I doubt she scared him off," Marian assured her, moving to stand next to her and placing a hand upon her back, rubbing in circles to try to ease her tension and calm her down. "Klaus doesn't scare easily, trust me."

"So what do you think your mom's issue was with him?" Raeger wondered. "The age difference?"

Avery laughed. "If my mom has a problem with the age difference between us, then she's a total hypocrite. There's a bigger difference between her and my father than me and Klaus."

"My guess is she was probably just taken aback by whatever it was she saw you two doing," Raeger mused, reaching up to tweak her nose as he gave her a wink. "She probably said something to Klaus about it and embarrassed him."

"I'm almost positive she said something to him about it," Avery confirmed. "But I didn't think Klaus would care what she thought, considering we went right back to making out in my old room, _after_ she had seen us together."

"Avery, your mom's an artist, right?" Marian said, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Yeah," Avery replied, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion at the doctor's seemingly unrelated question.

"Lila Durand?"

"Yeah," Avery repeated, nodding. "Why?"

Marian took a step away from her, running a hand over his face and groaning. "I think I know what she said to him."

"Care to clue us in?" Raeger asked.

"There are certain aspects of Klaus' past that he's not exactly proud of, ones that I'm sure some of your mother's more wealthy patrons probably gossiped about in front of her," he told Avery.

"I know about the whole gang thing," Avery told him, shaking her head. "He knows I'm okay with it. Hell, I told him I even found it a bit of a turn-on."

"Not that," Marian corrected through clenched teeth, clutching his hands together in front of him to help keep himself from blurting out exactly what was on his mind. "It has to do with his past relationships with women. That's all I can really say."

"Ohhhh," Raeger said, realization finally dawning on him. "Oh _shit_ , you think she really knows about that?"

" _You_ know about it?" Marian asked him, sounding surprised.

"Klaus kinda mentioned something about it once," he replied with a shrug. "So you think that's what this is all about?"

Marian rolled his eyes. "Women talk. Bored, rich women talk more. I'm sure her mother has heard _quite_ enough about Klaus' past exploits to have drawn a less-than-favorable image of him in her mind."

"Hey!" Avery shouted, drawing both of their attentions back to her. "Would one of you mind telling me what the hell you're talking about? _What_ 'past exploits' did my mother hear about?"

"We can't say," Raeger told her.

"She deserves to know," Marian insisted.

"Yeah, but _he_ deserves to be the one to tell her, not us," Raeger said firmly, casting a threatening look at the older man.

"Tell me what?" Avery asked, her voice breaking. Raeger turned to her and found her brown eyes full of frustrated tears. He smiled as best he could.

"We can't say, Avery," he repeated himself, reaching up to catch one of the tears as it rolled down her cheek, wiping it away with his thumb. "You really need to hear it from Klaus. Go see him, ask him about what your mother said to him, why his demeanor seemed to suddenly changed so drastically like you mentioned before."

"And hear him out," Marian requested. "Chances are this won't be a conversation he's looking forward to having with you."

"You two are scaring me," she told them, looking from Raeger to Marian and back again, more tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"May I?" Marian said to Raeger, and he nodded and stepped aside, allowing the doctor to take his position in front of Avery. Marian bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead, then frowned a bit as he struggled to find the right words to say.

"Sweetie, Klaus hasn't always been the man you know now," he told her, pausing briefly to collect his thoughts before continuing. "I know you said his past doesn't matter, but this is something pretty big and... honestly, I'm not sure how well a girl like you is going to take hearing about it. I just want you to remember, though, that he's not that man any more. He's changed. And he loves you _so much_. Telling you abut this is going to be one of the hardest things he's ever had to do, because I'm sure at least a part of him is probably scared silly that he's going to lose you once you know the truth about who he really is."

"This really isn't helping, Marian," Avery said, closing her eyes and shaking her head solemnly.

"I know. The only thing that's going to help is for you to talk to Klaus."

"But it's Wednesday. I'll never make it to his house in time before he heads out of town to do his usual business," she remarked, shaking her head again.

"That's probably for the best," Raeger spoke up. "If you wait for him to get back later, then he'll have no choice but to talk to you. He won't be able to use his trip as an excuse for blowing you off."

Marian leveled an angry look at him for his choice of words and Raeger sputtered, blushing a bit.

"Not that he _would_ blow you off, of course. Just saying, it's better that you wait until you two can have some uninterrupted time to talk this out."

"Fine," Avery agreed. "I'll go talk to him tonight. "But right now, I really need to wash my hair."

"That's for sure," Marian said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "It's all I can do not to hurl chunks on you right now because of the smell."

"Ass!" Avery smacked him in the chest, a smile finally breaking through on her face. "How someone as prissy as you got to be a doctor, I'll never know."

"Why, because of my excellent bedside manner, of course," he haughtily replied, causing Raeger to scoff.

"Are you going to be okay?" the chef asked her. "I can stay with you today, if you want. Keep you company, make you lunch, help keep your mind off things."

"I'll be fine, Raeger," Avery assured him. "Thank you, though. Both of you. I'm still worried as hell about what's going on with Klaus, but... at least, if things go badly, I know I've got friends I can turn to."

"Things aren't going to go badly," Marian reassured her. "You and Klaus are going to talk, and then you'll be back to sucking each other's faces off like nothing ever happened."

Marian gave her a cheeky wink and she laughed, hugging him and then Raeger before heading inside to clean up. The two of them watched her go inside, and then Marian turned to find Raeger staring after her with a worried look on his face. He cocked his head to one side as he took in the younger man's expression.

"What's on your mind?" he finally asked.

"I'm just hoping everything works out," Raeger said with a sigh, reaching up to attempt to rub the tension from the back of his neck. "I mean... She doesn't really judge me for being the way I am, but this is Klaus we're talking about. How is she going to react to finding out he was once just like me?"

"She'll be fine."

"I really hope so."

"You know, Raeger, if I didn't know any better I would think you're in love with her, the way you're talking," Marian teased him.

"She's my friend," Raeger reminded the doctor, rolling his eyes. "I don't want to see her get hurt, just like you don't want to see Klaus get hurt."

"Believe me, I've seen Klaus hurt before, and it's _not_ pretty," Marian said with a wince as they began walking away from Avery's farm.

"Which one of them do you think would be worse off, if things go badly?"

"Klaus, without a doubt," Marian answered without a single moment's hesitation. "Avery would get over it, in time. Klaus would have to spend the rest of his life knowing that his past actions cost him the woman he loved. He'd never forgive himself."

"But he's really changed, right?" Raeger asked, a note of desperation in his voice. "I mean, once a guy like that decides he's done being that way he doesn't ever just... go back to acting like that, does he? Especially not after he's fallen in love with someone."

"This isn't just about Klaus, is it?" Marian wondered, stopping on the path to carefully observe the young chef. Raeger stopped ahead of him and let out a weary sigh.

"I want to believe I can change," he said quietly. "Knowing that someone like Klaus used to be like me... It gives me hope."

"This wouldn't – by chance – have something to do with Lillie, would it?" Marian asked, causing Raeger's head to whip around, his eyes wide in shock. Marian simply smirked.

"We are _not_ having this conversation," Raeger insisted, turning back around and swiftly continuing along the path, the sound of the doctor's teasing laughter following him the rest of the way back to town.

 

* * *

 

Klaus sighed and stretched his arms above his head as he walked toward his house, letting out a satisfied groan when his shoulders popped. He had barely slept since his date with Avery, wondering how badly he'd messed things up with her. The decision he made to start taking things slower with her had blown up in his face the very moment they found themselves standing in front of her door. She'd invited him in, and he reluctantly declined, reminding her of the time and that she had to tend to her livestock yet before turning in for the night. He'd kissed her briefly before departing, despite the look in her eyes that said she wanted much more from him than that, and when he left her standing there he couldn't help feeling regret for the sadness which had replaced that desire.

That was why he wasn't all that surprised to find her sitting on his steps, waiting for him. She'd been avoiding him for the past few days, but he knew sooner or later she would come to him with questions about what had changed between them. He knew he had to tell her everything, even if it cost him her heart. He would lay past bare before her, and let her decide for herself if she truly felt he was worthy of her.

"Klaus," she said his name when she looked up and saw him, standing and running a hand down over the back of her skirt to smooth it out, a faint smile on her face.

"Avery," he greeted her with a nod, stepping up beside her to unlock the door. "I've been expecting you. Please, come in."

He held the door for her and she remained frozen on the spot, her smile falling from her face. He knew she had likely been expecting a different sort of reception – perhaps thinking he would pull her into his arms and kiss her over and over while apologizing for leaving the way he did the other night – but he had to stay strong. The longer he put off telling her what needed to be said, the harder it was going to be for her to hear. After a brief hesitation, she went into his house and Klaus followed her, closing the door and locking it to prevent any of his nosy neighbors from simply barging in during the serious conversation they were about to have.

"I've missed you," Avery said to him, and Klaus couldn't help but smile a bit.

"I know," he told her, gesturing toward the table, "and I'm sorry if I've worried you. We really need to talk, though, so please... have a seat."

"I've heard those words before," Avery said, letting out a short, quiet laugh which held no mirth in it. She shook her head and looked down to her hands, refusing to meet his eyes as she remained standing just inside the door.

"Look, Klaus, if you changed your mind about this – about us – Don't try to spare my feelings. I don't want to hear you say we're better off as friends or that whole, 'It's not you, it's me' speech. It's all bullshit, anyway, so if you want to break up with me, just tell me."

"I'm not breaking up with you, Avery," he told her, going over to her and pulling her into his arms, one hand catching under her chin to turn her gaze up to his. "I love you, and I _never_ want to let you go. But I need to tell you something about my past. Something that might make _you_ want to rethink being with _me_."

"Whatever it is, I don't care," she told him, biting her lip briefly. "I've had all day to think about this, ever since Marian and Raeger came by and told me you have some big secret you're keeping from me, and as long as you didn't, like... murder a bunch of kids or something equally horrible, I think I can live with any big, dark secrets you might have."

"They told you?" Klaus asked her, his voice barely audible.

"They said that there was something in your past, that likely my mom knew about it and confronted you, and that's why you were acting so strangely when you took me home after our date. They wouldn't tell me what the big secret was, though, and it really annoyed me... but they were right. Whatever this is, I need to hear it from you."

Klaus nodded solemnly. "Sit down. Please."

He released her and went to the table, then pulled out a chair for her and waited for her to sit before taking a seat next to her. He leaned forward and kissed her softly, then rested his forehead against hers and closes his eyes as he took her hands in hers and brought them to his chest so she could feel his heart racing.

"This is _very_ hard for me to talk to you about, Avery," he said, his voice shaking. "I don't think I've been this scared in a while."

"Klaus, it's okay," she assured him, pulling one of her hands free to run it through his hair as she kissed him again. He remained close to her for a moment longer, taking a deep breath and kissing her one last time before pulling away, though he kept her hand held in his upon his lap.

"You already know about how I pulled together that gang to deal with the rabble who were trying to take over the neighborhood where Antonio's restaurant is."

"Yes, and I told you that didn't matter to me," she reminded him.

"Well... I was the so-called 'boss,' and with that kind of power comes certain... privileges."

"Such as?" Avery prompted.

"Women," Klaus said, looking at her, his eyes full of regret. "Lots and _lots_ of women. And, being a teenager, I wasn't about to refuse any of their advances."

Avery did her best to smile and shrug it off, but Klaus could tell she was merely putting up a front. "So you messed around with a lot of girls when you were a teenager. Big deal. Plenty of guys do that."

"It didn't _stop_ when I was a teenager, though," he continued. "It went on _well_ into my twenties. Older women, younger women, it didn't matter. Hell, it didn't even matter if they wanted me, at first. If I saw them and I wanted them, I _had_ to have them."

Avery's eyes went wide and her posture stiffened. "Are you saying you—"

"No!" Klaus cut her off, his own eyes wide as he shook his head. "Goddess, no. I didn't meant for it to sound like that. I _never_ forced a woman against her will. I merely mean that I seduced a good number of them. It was like a game to me."

"So you're saying you basically used to be like Raeger?"

"I was probably at least ten times _worse_ than Raeger," Klaus admitted, looking away from her briefly before turning back, squeezing her hand in his as he reached up with his other hand to touch her face. "But I'm not like that any more. I haven't been for a long time."

"What changed?" she wondered, and Klaus swallowed thickly. He hadn't wanted to tell her about Rebecca, but he knew he had no choice now.

"I fell in love," he told her. "There was a girl... a young, aspiring model. I tried to seduce her, but she wouldn't give in easily. I was determined to have her, though, and in the course of pursuing her I fell head over heels. I decided I wanted more than just meaningless sex for the rest of my life. I wanted a future and a family with someone I could see spending more than just a few nights with. And I thought she was the one."

"So why aren't you with her?" Avery asked.

"She was using me, all along," Klaus said. "All the fight she put up when I went after her was part of some game, to her. It was a way to prolong things until she was able to use my connections within the fashion industry to get a leg up on her career. After she had what she wanted, she was done with me."

"She broke your heart."

Klaus nodded. "And because she did, I treated you unfairly."

"How so?" Avery asked, and she wiped at his cheek with her free hand. Klaus jumped a little. He hadn't even realized he'd started crying.

"She was younger than me, and you're even younger still, so I wrongly assumed you would end up hurting me like she did, in the end."

"There's never been any false pretense when it comes to my feelings for you, Klaus," she assured him. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Avery," he told her, and she leaned closer to kiss him, then gave him a small smile.

"So... Before this girl who broke your heart... How many were there?" she asked. "The way you're talking, I'm guessing we're not in the single digits any more, so... Fifty? Sixty?"

Klaus tensed. "More. A _lot_ more."

"Oh, come on. It's not like you got up in the triple digits or anything, right?"

Klaus remained silent and the smile fell from Avery's face. She pulled her hand away from his and slowly sat back in her chair, watching him silently for a bit before speaking again.

"Klaus... _How many_ were there?"

"I've never actually tried to count them all," he told her. "I'm not sure I could remember every single one, even if I tried."

"Ballpark?"

Klaus drew in a shaky breath and closed his eyes, letting it back out slowly before turning to look at her.

"Probably somewhere around two hundred."

Avery blinked, her breath catching in her throat as she gaped at him, and stood up from her chair. "Two... _Two hundred_? You've had sex with two hundred women?"

"At least."

Avery nearly knocked her chair over backwards as she began pacing, her arms wrapped around herself. Klaus watched her silently, clenching his hands into fists so he wouldn't feel compelled to stand up and pull her into his arms so he could hold her and attempt to calm her down. He needed to let her deal with this herself.

"So," she finally said, turning toward him. "What are the chances that you've got a kid or two or... I don't know... _twenty_ out there, somewhere?"

"Slim," he answered calmly. "I was a playboy, but I wasn't careless _or_ stupid."

"So I'm guessing there's no strange diseases I need to worry about getting from you, either?"

"No," he assured her with a shake of his head.

"How many of them did you juggle at a time?"

Klaus smiled a little. "I know you're probably going to find this hard to believe, but I've never cheated. Not once. I always ended things with the woman I was with before moving on to the next."

Avery nodded and tightened her arms around herself even more, looking down at the floor and causing her long hair to hide her face like a golden curtain. Klaus tilted his head in an attempt to see her expression. He couldn't see her face, but saw her swallow thickly and knew she was holding back tears.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Avery, I... I didn't want to tell you about this part of my past because I was worried it would hurt you, and it looks like it has. But I'm also actually _glad_ I told you. I love you, and I don't want there to be any secrets between us."

"I'm not..." Her voice broke and she sniffled, reaching up to wipe at her eyes with one hand as she shook her head. "It's not that."

"It's not?"

She shook her head again and finally looked up at him, her face streaked with tears and her brown eyes shining with the ones she had yet to cry.

"I'm not surprised you were popular with the ladies," she told him, smiling a little. "But I admit, it was a bit of a shock hearing just how many women you've been with. That was the past, though. You say you love me, and I believe you."

Klaus stood and went to her, brushing her hair back behind her shoulders and taking her face in her hands as she continued crying.

"What else about this is bothering you?" he asked her, his gaze searching her eyes. She closed her eyes and shook her head, biting her lip to stifle a sob. "Avery, please... Talk to me, love. Tell me what's wrong so I can do my best to fix it."

"I'm a virgin, Klaus!" she blurted out, then covered her mouth with her hand.

"I assumed you were," he told her. "I'm not worried about that."

"You don't get it," Avery insisted, looking up at him. "You've had all these other women before me. Every single one of them has helped to form your expectations of what a woman should be like in bed, and with my inexperience I have fuck-all chance of living up to those expectations."

Klaus shook his head. "You're wrong, Avery. I have no expectations. I used to, when I was younger, but then I realized that every woman is unique in her own way. To expect them all to be the same is foolish. Besides, it's been almost ten years since the last time I had sex, so even if I _had_ expectations they would be pretty low right now."

Avery let out a small laugh and Klaus smiled, leaning down to kiss her briefly before pulling away and reaching up to remove his handkerchief from his breast pocket. He handed it to her and watched her dry her eyes, stroking her hair as she did so.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked her once she was calmed down once more, and she nodded a little.

"What?"

"For as many women as I've been with, I've never wanted anyone more than I want you," he confessed to her, making her blush.

"I sincerely doubt that."

"It's true," he told her, backing her up until she was pressed against the edge of his table, his arms sliding around her waist. "Ever since I first saw you, I've wanted you. The mental images I could come up with – and still do – made me feel like a dirty old man."

"Such as?" she asked him, a daring smirk on her lips as she looked up at him, her eyes still sexy and half-lidded in spite of the redness from her previous bout of crying. Klaus grinned and placed his hands on either side of her waist, pressing his body against hers and trapping her between him and the table, then leaned down until he was nearly close enough to kiss her.

"Remember the last time I had you in this position?" he whispered, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke. Avery nodded. "What do you think was going through my mind, at that moment?"

"You wanted to kiss me," she said softly, leaning forward to press her lips against his. Klaus kissed her briefly, then pulled away and looked down at her with a devilish smirk.

"Trust me... I wanted to do _much more_ than just kiss you," he told her, his hands moving to her hips. He pulled her against him, letting her feel his stirring erection, and chuckled darkly in the back of his throat at her surprised gasp. He kissed her again, a bit harder this time, one of his hands moving up to tangle in her hair.

"Tell me," she pleaded against his lips when they parted, her voice a soft moan.

Klaus leaned down and placed a kiss against the side of her neck, followed by another, then a third. Avery moaned again, reaching up and winding her fingers into his hair, and Klaus ran his tongue over the fading mark he'd left upon her.

"I wanted to put you right on this table and take you," he told her, continuing to place kisses along the column of her throat, his voice a bit huskier than usual. "I wanted to set you on it, hike up your skirt, push aside your panties, and bury myself deep inside you. I wanted to fuck you so hard you couldn't breathe until you came, screaming my name."

"Klaus," she said his name, her voice wavering slightly. He gently bit at the soft skin of her throat and raised his head to look her in the eyes.

"Never doubt that I desire you more than any other woman, Avery," he told her. "That night, I wanted you so badly I had to pleasure myself – _twice_ – before I finally calmed down."

"So did I," she admitted, never breaking eye contact. Klaus' eyes grew slightly wider at her admission and she blushed, a shy smile crossing her lips.

"Don't look so shocked," she told him. "I might be a virgin, but I'm not a _complete_ innocent. In fact, I've lost track of the number of times I've had to... take matters into my own hands, as it were, all thanks to you."

Klaus let out and groan and kissed her passionately, then pulled away and looked at her, shaking his head as he let out a small laugh.

"You have no idea how sexy the image in my mind is right now," he told her, smiling. "The idea of you on your bed, naked, touching yourself and moaning my name... It's almost more than I can take, Avery."

"Well, the bed's right over there," she reminded him, nodding over his shoulder toward the direction of his bed.

Klaus closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Shaking his head, he reached up and untangled her arms from around him, but continued to hold her hands in his as he took a step back again from her.

"Klaus? What's wrong?" she asked him, and he opened his eyes to look at her. Her eyes were full of confusion and hurt, and he brought her hands up to his lips to kiss them, never looking away from her.

"We should wait," he said. "I know we both want this, but trust me... It'll be better if we wait until after we've been together for a while before we start sleeping together."

"Okay," she agreed with a small nod, still looking crestfallen.

"That doesn't mean we can't do _other_ things, in the meantime," he assured her, and she smiled a little.

"Like what?" she wondered.

"You'll see," he told her with a teasing smirk. "Right now, though, I really need to crash. I haven't been sleeping well, and I don't want to end up passing out while I'm working and worrying you again. You probably need to head home to tend to your animals, too."

"Yeah, I do," she said with a reluctant sigh. "Can I have one more kiss before I go, though?"

Klaus smiled and pulled her close, wrapping one arm around her waist while he continued to hold her hand in his. He kissed her softly, gently prodding her tongue with his as he gave her hand a loving squeeze, holding it over his heart.

"I love you, Avery," he told her when they finally parted.

"I love you, too, Klaus," she said, smiling at him.

"So we're okay? Even with all that out in the open?"

Avery nodded. "We're okay."

"Good," Klaus kissed her briefly, once more. "And I want you to remember that any doubts or fears or insecurities you might have, you need to tell me about them... okay? Holding them inside won't cause either of us any good."

"Same goes for you," she chided him, poking him in the chest with her finger.

"Fair enough," Klaus agreed, chuckling.

Avery kissed him once last time and then reluctantly pulled away with a sigh. Klaus held fast to her hand and walked her to the door, then pulled her back into his arms for one last, lingering kiss. Avery hummed thoughtfully to herself as he broke the kiss, and he gave her a quizzical look as he tilted his head slightly to the side.

"I think the animals are going to have to wait," she told him as he unlocked the door and opened it for her. "There's something else I need to do when I get home."

"What's that?" he asked, thinking perhaps she needed to tend to some of her crops or check on the trees she had planted on Eda's land.

"I'm going to lie on my bed and fantasize about what you said you wanted to do to me on your dining room table," she informed him with a wink, then giggled when he grinned at her, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.

"Good night, Klaus!" she said as she descended his steps and made her way back toward the rest of the town.

"Good night, you saucy little minx!" he called after her, earning himself another giggle. He watched her until she disappeared from his sight, then closed the door and leaned back against it with a heavy sigh, still grinning.

"You won't be the only one fantasizing, tonight," he said to himself, re-locking the door before heading to his bed.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen**

Avery carefully observed Raeger as she ate her lunch. His blue-green eyes were fixed solely upon Lillie, who in turn was gazing dreamily at the man seated alone at one of the tables near the far end of the counter. Avery glanced over her shoulder at the other woman's apparent object of infatuation. He'd only been living in Oak Tree Town for about a week, having come from some town far away to study the cultivation of flowers under Giorgio's tutelage. Avery didn't know much about him aside from what Veronica had told her upon briefly introducing him to her at the trade depot. His name was Cam, and he was a florist and novice perfumer. He also seemed to share her favorite color since he always wore a purple jacket and matching checkered hat every day.

"Why don't you go sit with him?" Avery suggested to Lillie, earning herself a glare from Raeger. She knew her best friend had a bit of a thing for the innkeeper's eldest daughter, but she also knew the girl was even less his type than she was when it came to wanting the sort of relationship he was used to having with women.

"What?" Lillie blinked a few times, her attention focusing on the woman sitting next to her at the counter.

"I said, you should go sit with Cam and keep him company," Avery repeated her suggestion.

"I couldn't possibly," Lillie insisted, shaking her head. "I mean... look at him! He's so dreamy..."

Avery bit her lip to keep from laughing at the grumble of disapproval that came from Raeger, and instead looked over at Cam once more. She hadn't really noticed it before, but he bore a slight resemblance to Raeger. They both had the same dark blonde hair, though Cam's appeared to be a bit longer, and it fell into his eyes much like the chef's had a habit of doing. His eyes were a pure green, however, while Raeger's had a good amount of blue in them – but despite those difference the two of them could have easily passed for brothers. They even had very similar smiles, Avery noted as she saw Cam smiling over something he was reading. She wondered if Lillie even noticed the similarities between them.

"I'm sure he's probably feeling pretty lonely, being so far away from home," she told the younger woman, turning back to her again. "Who knows? If you play your cards right, he might even give you something for White Day."

Raeger scoffed and Avery looked up at him. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," he replied with a smirk, then called out to the other man. "Hey, Cam! What are you up to for White Day this year?"

Cam looked up from the page in his hand and blinked a few times, his brain slowly registering the question.

"I was planning on heading back to Bluebell for a few days to spend the holiday with my wife," he finally answered. "Why?"

"You're married?" Lillie asked him, trying her best to mask the disappointment in her voice. Cam nodded and stood from his chair, folding the page he'd been reading and tucking it away inside his jacket. He then pulled out a photograph and walked over to the counter, standing between her and Lillie and showing it to them.

"Five years. This is my wife, Lily, and our little girl, Lucy," he told them.

"Your wife's name is Lily?" Lillie mused, taking the picture from him and looking more closely at it, her shoulders slumping a bit.

"Lilian, actually," Cam corrected, smiling. "Everyone calls her Lily, though."

"She's pretty." Lillie could no longer hide her melancholy as she handed the photograph over to Avery, who couldn't help smiling as she looked at it. The picture was of them three of them, Cam holding his wife back against his chest as their daughter sat perched upon his shoulders. Lily had light brown hair which was pulled into a loose ponytail that hung over the front of her shoulder and dark blue eyes. Lucy, their little girl, had hair the same color as her mother's styled in pigtails and her father's green eyes.

"You have a lovely family, Cam," she told him, handing the picture back to him. "I'm sure you must miss them."

"Every day," Cam said with a wistful sigh as he looked at the picture for a moment longer before tucking it away once more in his jacket. "But we're dealing with the distance as best we can. I meet them in the city a couple of days a week. Mondays we have a family outing, and then Friday is just for me and Lily."

"Why didn't they just come here with you?" Lillie wondered, her voice taking on a slight edge. "I mean, if they mean so much to you, shouldn't you be with them _every_ day?"

"My wife and I actually had an argument about that very thing before I left," he explained, taking a seat on the opposite side of Avery.

"She didn't want you to go?" Avery asked.

"No, she _wanted_ me to go. I was going to stay, since I knew she and Lucy couldn't come with me because she needed to take care of her animals at the farm. But she said to me, 'You don't get opportunities like this every day. It's just for a year. We'll make arrangements to see each other a couple of times a week and write to each other and it'll be just like when we were dating.' And she's right. It's pretty much like the way things were before we got married."

"Well, it's wonderful that things worked out well for you two," Lillie said, casting her eyes downward as she stood from her seat, no longer able to conceal her disappointment. She began looking through her purse for some money to pay her bill, but Raeger reached out over the counter and placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"It's on the house today, Lillie," he informed her, guilt written all over his face. She regarded him silently for a moment, then gave him the barest of smiles and nodded.

"Thanks, Raeger," she told him, then turned to the others. "I'll see you later, Avery. Cam."

Avery watched her leave the restaurant, letting out a sigh as the door closed behind her, then turned to Raeger.

"You knew Cam was married," she accused him.

"You did?" Cam wondered, blinking in surprise as he also looked to the chef. "How? I didn't tell anyone in town before just now."

"I think the better question here is why Cam felt it was necessary to lead poor Lillie on," Raeger said, turning his own accusatory gaze toward the other man.

Cam blinked in confusion once more. "I was leading her on?"

"She obviously had a thing for you," Raeger angrily informed him. "Yet instead of telling her outright you're a married man, you thought it would be fun to just let her moon over you and get her hopes up. Then, as an extra bit of cruelty, it turns out your wife has the same name as her."

"Raeger, calm down," Avery told him firmly, noticing that his hands were starting to ball into fists at his sides. "I'm sure Cam didn't intentionally lead her on."

"I didn't!" Cam confirmed, his eyes wide. "I... I know she was being nice to me, but I never suspected it was more than the usual hospitality she'd show any guest at her father's inn." He pulled off his hat and ran a hand back through his hair, wincing a bit. "I guess I'm still just as bad at sensing a woman's true feelings as I was back before I started dating _my_ Lily."

"You should apologize to her," Raeger insisted, his tone stern. "Let her know you didn't mean to lead her on – intentionally or not – and that you're sorry her feelings got hurt."

Cam nodded in agreement. "I will. I'm still curious how you knew I'm married, though."

"I didn't," Raeger said with a shake of his head. "Not the being married part, anyway. I just knew you were involved with someone else."

"How?" Cam repeated the question once more.

"That letter you've been fawning over," Raeger replied, nodding toward where Cam had tucked it away within his jacket. "I caught a glimpse of it earlier when I was bringing over your meal. It's written in some pretty girly-looking handwriting and started off with 'My Dearest Kamil,' so – assuming that Cam is actually sort for Kamil – it wasn't too much of a stretch to think that it's a love letter from a woman you're romantically involved with."

"You're a lot smarter than your reputation would lead one to believe," Cam complimented Raeger with an awkward half-smile. Raeger bristled at the backhanded compliment, and Avery wondered who had told Cam about Raeger's reputation. The most likely candidate, in her mind, was Lillie.

"You're correct, on both assumptions," Cam continued. "Though I'd appreciate it if you both kept the Kamil thing to yourselves."

"Why don't you want people to know your name is Kamil?" Avery wondered.

"I never really cared if people knew it or not, before. Everyone in Bluebell knows that's what it is, but they've always just called me Cam. But, now... it's... sort of a special case. Like... I don't really know how to explain it," he added, a light blush coloring his cheeks.

"I think I can," Raeger said with a smirk, turning to Avery. "He likes the way his wife moans his name during sex."

"It's not that!" Cam argued, then shrugged slightly. "Okay, so... Maybe partly it is. But it's also just the fact that she's really the only one who ever calls me Kamil at all. She's made my given name into a sort of affectionate pet name and I don't want to ruin the special feeling I get when I hear her say it – in _any_ context," he added, leveling a look at Raeger to silence any additional smart remarks he might have been considering making.

"I'm sure she wouldn't be too happy about it if other people started calling you that, too," Avery told him. "Especially if those others were women. I know I wouldn't like it if Kalus started using the same pet name he does for me with other women."

"What is it? Cutie? Sweetie? Babydoll?" Raeger rattled off his guesses, chuckling at how the redness of her cheeks increased with each one.

"He doesn't seem the type to use such titles that are commonly thrown around by a playboy like you," Cam commented.

"You don't know Klaus," Raeger pointed out.

"You're right," Cam conceded with a nod. "I've only met him briefly. But he spoke very fondly of Avery and I'm guessing he probably calls her 'love.' Am I right?"

The two men turned their gazes toward her and Avery nodded. Raeger whipped a dish towel at her before tossing it back over his shoulder, grinning wickedly.

"You liar! You said the two of you didn't have sex."

"We haven't!" Avery insisted. "He calls me ' _love_ ,' not ' _lover_.'"

"I still find it hard to believe you two haven't done it. I figured once you had your little talk last week you two would be all over each other."

"Maybe they decided to wait," Cam remarked, finally putting his hat back on. "That's what Lily and I did, and let me tell you... it was worth it."

"Really?" Raeger scoffed in disbelief. Cam nodded, pulling the letter out of his jacket and waving the folded page in front of the other man's face.

"There are other ways to be sexual in a relationship without actually having sex, you know," he stated, smirking a little. "Though I'm guessing someone like you doesn't really know how to appreciate anything but instant gratification."

"Like writing love letters?" Raeger asked.

"For example," Cam said, nodding and tucking his letter away. "Then there's other things like dirty talk or even a simple look or touch which says more than words are sometimes able to express. Things like that will just create so much anticipation."

"Klaus did say some rather... racy things to me, that night," Avery admitted, blushing. "And he's looked at me plenty of times in a... certain way."

"Yeah?" Raeger asked, leaning onto the counter and propping his chin in his hand at he looked at her, his smirk growing. "And what did he say to you? Something about wanting to devour you whole?"

Avery blinked, surprised at how close he'd been to reciting the very words Klaus had used in his warning about him. Had Klaus actually been talking about himself all along?

"It's not just about the physical, lusty side of things, though," Cam continued, and they both turned to look at him. He blushed and licked his lips, casting his gaze down at the counter in front of him.

"When my wife and I made love for the first time," he said, his voice quiet, a shy smile pulling at his lips at the memory, "it was beyond anything I had ever experienced before. I'd been with other girls, and it was good, but with her... the connection was more than just physical. It was a deeply emotional experience for both of us, and I know this is going to sound horrible and corny, but... it was also the most spiritual thing I had ever experienced in my life. It was as close to heaven as one can get while still being alive. And it's always been that way, every time. Whether I'm taking her slowly or we're going at it like a couple of horny teenagers, there's always this feeling in my heart that she's the one I'd been waiting for, the one I'm meant to spend the rest of my life with."

"And you think waiting to have sex is why you feel that way?" Raeger asked incredulously.

"I do," Cam stated as his eyes met Raeger's, his voice sure. "Because I waited until I knew the time was right."

"How do you know when that is?" Avery wondered, and Cam smiled as his green eyes turned to her.

"There will come a moment when it's not about lust any more," he told her. "You'll probably still _feel_ lust, but it won't be the driving force behind your need."

"That's why Klaus wants to wait," Avery thought out loud. "It's always been based on lust before, for him. This time, he wants it to be about love."

Cam's smile grew even larger. "Sounds like you've got yourself a good man who truly cares about you, Avery."

"I do," Avery said as she put some money by her empty plate and stood from her seat. "Speaking of Klaus, though, I'm supposed to be meeting him so we can go for a walk in the mountains."

" _Just_ a walk?" Raeger asked, giving her a wink.

" _Yes_ , Raeger, _just_ a walk," she assured him. "Klaus is hoping to get some inspiration for a couple of fragrances he was asked to make for private clients. I offered to keep him company."

"Tell him to stop by the inn later if he's still having trouble. Maybe I can help," Cam offered. "Bluebell has different species of native flora so I might be able to come up with some ideas."

"It'll be sure to let him know," Avery told him with a nod and a smile.

Cam watched her leave the restaurant, returning her wave as she left, then turned his attention to Raeger as he stood and paid his own bill.

"I know I'm new in town, and this probably isn't any of my business," he said, carefully broaching the subject. "But I think _you_ should give Lillie something for White Day."

"What?" Raeger asked, refusing to look at Cam as he cleaned up the dishes Lillie and Avery had left upon the counter.

"You don't get upset about someone 'leading on' another person and then demand that the person who supposedly did the leading on apologize to the person they hurt unless you _like_ the person who got hurt."

"She's a friend," Raeger said. "I don't like when my friends get hurt."

"You also got me to admit I'm married in a rather tricky way, now that I think about it," Cam countered. "And you admitted to already having figured out I probably wasn't single. So why not just ask me when you saw the letter if I was involved with someone? You wanted Lillie to be here when I said it, because she liked me and you were feeling jealous. So you figured you'd make me out to be a bad guy and then play the sympathetic hero when her feelings got hurt. That's why you told her not to bother paying for her lunch."

"You really have no clue what you're talking about," Raeger insisted, avoiding looking at him by heading over to the table where he'd been sitting to collect the dishes there.

"I might be horrible at reading women, but I'm usually pretty good and figuring out what other men are up to," Cam told him, heading for the door as he spoke. "Maybe I'm wrong, though. But if I'm not, I think you should just tell her how you feel before some other guy comes along to that inn and sweeps her off her feet."

He called a final good day to Raeger and gave a tip of his hat as he left, and Raeger slumped down into one of the chairs at the table with a heavy sigh. He was losing his touch if even people who were practically strangers were able to see through him.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**

Klaus checked his pocket watch as he hurried in the direction of Raeger's restaurant. It was already half past nine and he had less than an hour and a half to not only convince Raeger to let him make use of his kitchen, but to also make the madelines he wanted to give Avery for White Day. He knew he should have prepared sooner, but he had completely forgotten about the holiday until he'd been in the city the previous day and seen all of the decorations hanging in shop windows alongside advertisements reminding passersby to 'Get Your Sweetie Some Sweets for White Day'.

He'd meant to pick up something on his way home, but a couple of his meetings with clients had run late and so by the time he was finally finished for the day he'd barely had enough time to get back to the station and catch the last train heading toward Oak Tree Town. It was just as well, though. More likely than not, the stores were probably sold out thanks to all the other men who had waited until the last minute to get gifts for their wives and girlfriends. At least this way, his cookies would be hand-made and a true gift from his heart.

He took the steps up to the restaurant's front door two at a time and knocked loudly. He knew Raeger would be doing his prep work, so he might not be heard if the younger man was in his storage room behind the kitchen. To his surprise, the door opened much more quickly than he expected, revealing a rather tired and cross-looking Raeger.

"Let me guess," he said before Klaus could offer any sort of greeting. "You're here to make something for Avery for White Day?"

"I am," Klaus confirmed, giving him a slight nod. Raeger sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, then stepped aside and gestured toward the interior of the restaurant.

"Welcome to Raeger's Impromptu Cooking School For Stupid Men Who Can't Remember When the Fuck White Day is Until it Comes Up on Their Calendars," he announced.

Klaus gave him a confused look and stepped past him, then blinked in surprise at the sight which met his eyes. Several of the men from town were grouped around the two large tables in the center of the establishment, each of them equipped with their own makeshift cooking station. Gunther and Maurice were at the table farthest from the entrance helping Otmar, while Marian was at the other table with Fritz, talking to the young farmer and making him blush as red as his hair.

"You can go over there with Marian and Fritz," Raeger instructed him, heading behind the counter and rummaging around under it for a bit. "Here. It's my last one, so lucky you got here in time to use it."

Klaus walked over and took the madeline pan from him, thanking him quietly, then went over to join Marian and Fritz at their table.

"Klaus! Help me!" Fritz begged when he saw him approach, moving to stand behind his taller frame. "Marian's being mean!"

"How am I being mean?" Marian asked, hands propped on his hips. "I merely asked who you're planning to give those treats you're making to."

"I doubt you asked as simply as that," Klaus remarked with a smirk, shrugging off his long coat and folding it over the back of one of the chairs nearby.

"I did so!" Marian argued, crossing his arms over his chest, his chin rising defiantly.

"Maybe the first time. But I'm guessing he didn't want to say and so you began badgering him." He turned to look back over his shoulder at Fritz, unbuttoning the cuffs on his shirt. "Am I right?"

"Yes!" Fritz exclaimed, even as Marian was adamantly shaking his head.

"Don't bother the poor kid, Marian," Klaus admonished his best friend, rolling up one sleeve, then the other as he continued speaking. "He probably doesn't want the girl he likes to know that he's the one giving her a gift."

"Or, you know, maybe he just doesn't want you spreading his business all around town," Raeger added, setting down a tray of supplies on the table in front of Klaus.

Marian gasped dramatically, placing a hand to his chest. "Like I would do such a thing!" Klaus and Raeger both looked at him in disbelief.

"Hey Gunther! Maurice!" Raeger called over to the other two men, waiting until he had their attention. "How'd you two hear about Avery and Klaus finally getting together?"

"Marian," Gunther simply stated.

"Yeah, Marian told me, too," Maurice said. Raeger nodded and turned back to the doctor, quirking an eyebrow and smirking in satisfaction that his point had been validated.

"Wait! _You're_ the one who told _me_!" Marian accused him.

"I only told you because I knew how eager you were for them to finally admit their feelings to each other and I figured you would want to know it finally happened."

"Someone telling you something doesn't automatically give you carte blanche to go around town telling every other person you meet about it," Klaus reminded Marian, causing him to pout. "Especially if the person you heard it from isn't the direct source. What if Avery and I hadn't really decided to start dating? What if Fritz had been mistaken about what he thought he saw? Then you would have been spreading false information around town. You don't want to be known as a _bad_ gossip, do you?"

"No," Marian muttered, finally giving in. "You're right. I guess I just get too carried away, sometimes, especially when it comes to the juicy details of other people's relationships."

"Now, apologize to Fritz," Klaus told him as one would instruct a child who had misbehaved.

"I'm sorry, Fritz," Marian apologized, as he had been instructed to, giving the younger man a slight bow. "I should not have been so aggressive in my attempts to get you to tell me who you plan on giving your White Day gift to. After all, it's none of my business if you have a thing for Agate."

Klaus heard the farmer sputtering behind him and looked back to find Fritz blushing even more furiously than he'd been before. His brown eyes briefly looked up to him, then he shyly averted his gaze and made his way back to his spot at the table without saying another word. Marian let out a chuckle and Klaus looked over to him, receiving a wink and a satisfied smirk.

"You mean to tell me you knew all along who he's planning on giving his gift to, and yet you _still_ hounded him?"

"I simply wanted to hear him admit that he likes her," Marian remarked with a shrug. "After all, if one can't verbalize their own feelings out loud then they will never be able to fully accept them as truth. Right, Klaus?"

Klaus huffed a bit and began setting to work on the madelines he had planned to make for Avery, placing the ingredients Raeger had so graciously provided him with out in a line next to his mixing bowl. Everything had already been carefully measured out into tiny, individual glass dishes, but as he looked over the various ingredients he suddenly realized that he had no clue about _how_ to make madelines. He knew what they looked and tasted like, but he'd only ever purchased them, before.

"Put the eggs, vanilla, and salt into the bowl and mix them together," Fritz quietly instructed him, as though he could read Klaus' mind.

"Thanks."

"How did you know I like her?" Fritz asked. Klaus looked over and found the farmer staring into his own bowl as he sifted flour into it, his cheeks still faintly colored pink, then turned his attention to Marian.

"You made it pretty obvious, the way you've been so awkwardly trying to flirt with her every day for the past two weeks whenever you ask if she could take your animals to the safari."

"I just think she's nice," Fritz said quietly, setting down the sifter and picking up a spoon to combine the flour with the other ingredients in his bowl. "She helped me out a lot after Granny died, and she's easy to talk to."

"And she's kind of cute, right?" Marian asked, his voice once more taking on the overly-curious tone he had whenever he was trying to pull some juicy gossip out of someone. Klaus cleared his throat to get his attention, then shook his head in a silent warning once the doctor's eyes were upon him.

"Why are you even here?" Klaus asked bluntly. "White Day is when men give the women they adore gifts. That... doesn't exactly apply, in your case. If anything, I figured you might be sitting around waiting for a gift from somebody."

Marian pouted. "He doesn't know I like him. Or, if he does, he's shown no signs of liking me back. This way, he'll have no choice but to face me and let me know how he feels."

"Still..."

"I'm not waiting almost an entire year until Valentine's Day rolls around again, Klaus. By then, he might have moved on to someone else. I need to make my love known, once and for all!"

Fritz snickered as he sifted more flour into his batter. Klaus also heard some quiet chuckling coming from Gunther and Maurice, and a look over to Raeger confirmed that he, too, had heard the doctor's outburst as he was smirking from ear to ear while he carefully spooned his own batter into the shell-shaped molds of the pan.

"So the doc's in love," Gunther managed to say through his laughter. "Good fer you! Hope he likes ya back."

"I don't suppose you'd indulge our curiosity by telling us who the lucky man is?" Klaus wondered, raising an eyebrow. He already had a vague notion of who it _might_ be, but he didn't want to simply make assumptions.

"Sorry, darling, but my lips are sealed," Marian replied, winking at him.

"Well, now we know who everyone is givin' their madelines to but you, Raeger," Gunther remarked, grinning at the chef.

"I'm making them for Avery," Raeger replied without looking up from his work. "And before any of you cry foul, Klaus knows she and I are best friends and that she loves sweets. These are meant as nothing more than a gift of friendship."

"Yer makin' two batches, there," Gunther pointed out. "Who's the other for?"

"I know!" Fritz blurted out. "It's for Lillie!"

"Fritz," Raeger growled the farmer's name, making it sound like a curse word.

"What?" Fritz asked, blinking innocently. Then he suddenly looked over to where Maurice was standing and gasped. "Ohh... right. You're her dad! Oops."

Klaus carefully watched the man in question. His muscles had instantly stiffened when Fritz said Raeger planned to give Lillie a White Day gift. He remained completely motionless for a moment, then calmly set down his utensils and walked over to the counter. He stood across from Raeger, his mouth set in a firm line and his eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised the younger man, but the chef did not back down. Standing to his full height, his bright blue-green eyes never wavered from the challenging gaze that was set fully upon him.

"You have intentions for my daughter?" Maurice finally spoke, breaking the near-silence that had descended upon the restaurant as everyone else – save for Otmar, who was blissfully unaware of the sudden tension in the room and continued working away on his madelines – had turned to observe the exchange.

"I only wish to give her a peace offering, sir," Raeger informed him. "I recently had a hand in something which caused her great pain, and I wanted to try to help her feel better."

"You had better not hurt her," Maurice warned, leaning over the counter and pointing a finger in Raeger's face. "Everyone in town knows you're a no-good womanizer, and I won't have you adding my daughter to the ever-expanding list of names in your little black book."

"I would never intentionally hurt your daughter, sir," Raeger promised, and Maurice seemed taken aback by the sincerity in his tone of voice. His eyes went wide and he leaned back several inches, his hand slowly falling down to rest upon the counter top. They continued to stare each other down for another full minute, and then Maurice finally gave a single nod and walked away, going over to Otmar to assist the old man with putting his batter properly into the molds of his pan.

Fritz let out an audible sigh of relief, and Klaus looked over to find him mouthing the words, 'I'm sorry' to Raeger. Glancing back over his shoulder, he then caught Raeger mouthing back, 'I'm going to kill you' with an angry look on his face as he shook his head. He then returned to what he had been doing before the entire confrontation started, and Klaus turned back to his task at hand. Marian caught his eye, however, and looked meaningfully from him to Raeger.

Klaus nodded at Marian's unsaid statement, then focused once more on his work. He didn't need the doctor to say anything. The sympathetic look in his eyes had been enough to get the message across. Klaus had known all along that Raeger was a younger version of himself. Just like he had to contend with Avery's mother doubting that he was a changed man, so too would Raeger have to deal with Maurice refusing to believe he would ever do anything but break his eldest daughter's heart. The only difference was that while Delilah Durand lived miles away in the city, Maurice was in the very same town as Raeger and his potential sweetheart. Dating her would mean he would have to face that critical gaze _every day_. Mauirce would be carefully observing his _every_ move, just waiting for Raeger to screw up and break the promise he had made to never hurt her. Then... well... Klaus couldn't say he would ever want to be in Raeger's position, if that were to happen.

He supposed maybe he could have a private chat with Maurice later and attempt to calm the man's fears. He didn't like the idea of telling someone he barely knew about his past, but Raeger had been instrumental in him and Avery finally coming together. Maybe if Maurice heard that people could change from someone who was proof of the fact, he might cut the younger man some slack.

Klaus looked over at Maurice to find him still stealing glances at Raeger while he helped Otmar, grinding his teeth as he did so.

 _Then again_ , he thought to himself, _maybe there really is no helping him._

 

* * *

 

Avery smiled happily and leaned over the table outside Raeger's restaurant, holding a madeline in her outstretched hand and aiming at Klaus' mouth.

"Come on... just try one," she encouraged him, waving the tiny, shell-shaped cake about in front of his lips. "I know you don't like sweets, but these aren't overly sweet, I promise."

Klaus chuckled and leaned forward, biting the cake in half, and Avery smiled at him. She began to pull her hand back, intending to eat the rest of the madeline herself, but he caught her by the wrist and held her gaze as he slowly took the rest of the confection in his mouth, wrapping his lips around the very tips of her fingers and gently prying it away from her grasp with his tongue. She let out a soft gasp at the gesture, and he placed a kiss on the heel of her palm and her wrist, his eyes never breaking contact for a second.

"Avery! Can we have some of your cookies?" Melanie called as she ran over to where they were sitting, dragging Lutz along behind her. "Lillie won't share hers!"

Klaus released Avery's hand from his grasp and sat back in his chair, adjusting his coat a bit. A blush began rising in his cheeks, no doubt from embarrassment at having been caught in a somewhat intimate moment by the children.

"I told you, Lillie, I'm not supposed to have sweets!" Lutz protested, pulling his hand out of her grasp and reaching up to straighten his glasses.

"If your mom doesn't let you have sweets, then how come you love chocolate ice cream so much?" Melanie threw back at him, causing Lutz's cheeks to turn pink.

"Here, you two can take these," Avery told the young girl, holding out a box tied with a pink ribbon.

Melanie cooed happily as she accepted the present, but Lutz protested once more.

"We can't eat those, Melanie! It's too close to dinner time!"

"We'll just eat a couple right now," she assured him. "And we'll save the rest for later."

"But-"

"No buts!" she insisted, grabbing his hand once more and leading him back toward the inn.

"Thanks, Avery!" she called over her shoulder, and Avery laughed as Lutz started arguing again about why they shouldn't be eating the treats and Melanie yelled at him to stop being such a stick in the mud.

"Were those the ones Raeger gave you?" Klaus wondered, and she turned her attention back to him, still smiling, and nodded.

"I didn't really need two boxes, and I sure as hell wasn't giving them the ones _you_ made me."

"I'm sure his turned out much better than mine," he said, reaching across the table toward her hand and gently caressing the backs of her fingers. "Mine are too dense and I left them in the oven bit too long."

"They're perfect, Klaus," she assured him, raising her hand up off the table to link her fingers with his. "Remember last year's Flower Fair and what you said to me about that pathetic excuse for a rose I gave you? The same holds true here. Sure, Raeger is an _excellent_ chef, and I'm sure his madelines were perfectly executed... but I still think yours are more delicious because _you_ made them for me."

"Flatterer," Klaus muttered, turning his head away in a vain attempt to hide the fact his cheeks were burning up. Avery smiled and released his hand, then stood from her chair and rounded the table to sit in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You're so cute when you blush," she teased him, causing the color in his face to intensify. She giggled at the sight and rested her head upon his shoulder, placing soft kisses along the side of his neck.

"Avery," he said her name in a quiet groan, a hint of a warning in his voice.

"Hmm?" she hummed against his throbbing pulse.

"Not here," he pleaded, gently pushing her away. "What if the children come back?"

"It's not like I'm going to straddle you and ride you right here in the middle of the town square, Klaus," she whispered against his lips before kissing him briefly. "I'm sure they can handle seeing two adults kissing."

"They already saw a bit more than that before they walked over here just now," Klaus informed her. From his vantage point, he had been able to see their approach before Melanie had made their presence known.

"I sincerely doubt they had a clue what was going on," Avery assured him, her voice turning a bit breathless at the memory of how his tongue had slid between her fingers in a not-so-subtly suggestive way.

Klaus let out a short chuckle. "Melanie is rather mature for her age. I think she may have the hots for Raeger even more than her sister does. Believe it or not, she actually had her sights set on _me_ , prior to that."

"Oh?" Avery feigned angry suspicion, narrowing her eyes at him. "So that's how it is? I'm going to have to watch out for every cute little girl who bats her eyelashes at you?"

"Perhaps," Klaus played along, trying not to smile and failing. "You know how much I like younger women, after all."

"You cad!" Avery slapped him in the chest and the two of them stared at each other in silence, each of them desperately attempting to hold on to their serious expressions. After a minute, they both burst out laughing and Klaus wrapped one of his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, his opposite hand resting upon her leg. Avery snuggled against him as their laughter slowly abated, and he began slowly running his hand up and down the outside of her thigh.

"I love you," he told her. "And I'm glad you enjoyed your gift."

"I love you, too," she said. "And thank you for making them for me."

He kissed the top of her head, then tilted his head slightly and pressed a second kiss to her forehead. She pulled back a bit to look up at him, and he pressed his lips to hers, kissing her tenderly. Avery kissed him back, and Klaus gently prodded at her lips with the tip of his tongue. She sighed softly against his mouth, but Klaus didn't take advantage of it, and instead continued with his gentle, mostly-chaste kissing.

"Well, well... You two certainly have come a long way from your days of denying you had feelings for each other."

Klaus let out a groan of frustration when he felt Avery pull away at the sound of Iris' voice. He should have known better than to enter into any sort of overt public displays of affection while they were in Oak Tree Town, but it had been a good day and Avery was happy and so he'd been in a romantic mood and hadn't been thinking properly.

"Well, what can I say?" Avery told the other woman with a shrug. "It's hard to keep my hands off him."

"Who could blame you?" Iris replied, giving her a wink. She then set down the two books she had been carrying in her arms and handed each of them a copy. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to give these to you. They're advance copies of my latest novel."

Klaus took the book that was offered to him and looked it over. It was a simple hardbound volume with a blank blue cover and silver lettering on the spine.

"The dust jackets are still being printed, but I just couldn't wait! I'm so excited to hear what you two think about it!"

"Moonlight Rendezvous," Avery read the title on the spine, and Klaus rolled his eyes.

" _Another_ romance novel?" he asked Iris, and she blinked at him a few times, surprised by his reaction.

"I thought you didn't mind reading romances?"

"Not occasionally, but this is... what? Your fourth one in a row?"

"I can't wait to read it, Iris," Avery said, eagerly opening the book and flipping to the first page. "I'll start tonight."

"Wonderful!" Iris clapped her hands together, smiling once more at them. "Well, then, I'll leave you two to get back to what you were up to before."

She winked at them and then headed into the restaurant, likely on her way to get some dinner, and Klaus' stomach let out an audible growl as the smells of Raeger's cooking wafted outside when she opened the door. Setting his book down on the table, he reached up and gently pulled Avery's copy from her hands and closed it, then placed it next to his.

"I was reading that," she pointed out, pouting a little.

"I know, and feel free to stay up all night reading it later," Klaus told her. "Right now, though, I think we should get some dinner."

"Okay," she agreed, nodding and getting up from his lap. "Should we eat here?"

Klaus grimaced and shook his head as he stood. Normally, he would have had no problem with them dining at the restaurant, but if they went in right now he knew that Iris and Raeger would likely bug them continuously and they wouldn't be able to eat in peace.

"Why don't we go to my house, and I can cook for you tonight?" he suggested. "Consider it a little extra something for White Day."

"I like that idea," Avery agreed, smiling and rising up on her toes to kiss him. "I didn't know you cooked, though."

"I had no choice but to learn when I was in college," Klaus told her, gathering up their books and tucking them under one arm. "Marian would show up at my place whenever he got dumped and demand I make him something to eat while he cried and whined about how much his love life sucked."

"I see," Avery said, laughing. "In that case, you must be a _very_ good cook, with all the practice you surely got."

Klaus chuckled and offered his other arm to her, and Avery linked hers through it. Avery picked up the box containing the remainder of the madelines he'd made for her, and the two of them set off for their evening in together.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it finally happened... I got to the point where I need to upgrade this story to an Explicit rating. Needless to say, this chapter is NSFW!

**Chapter Sixteen**

Avery clutched the book Iris had given her to her chest as she walked purposefully toward town, heading in the direction of Klaus' home. It had taken her just over a week, but she'd managed to finally finish reading it. While she had been making her way through the book, she had avoided seeing Klaus as much as she wanted to, instead only visiting him for the previously-designated Tuesday and Thursday brunches. She wanted to see him more, but due to the content of the book she was afraid that she would have let her desires for him get the better of her. Of course, there was also something else that bugged her about the most recent tale Iris had woven.

She was sure he had noticed her odd behavior when they spent time together, but she had remained tight-lipped about what was on her mind. She wanted to finish the book first, to see what other surprise Iris might have put within its pages. Thankfully, there hadn't been anything past the first few and the story even had a happy ending – which was good, because Avery had been worried she would have left things open-ended so that she would later be able to write a sequel.

She didn't bother knocking once she reached Klaus' door, simply letting herself inside like Marian always did. After all, Klaus had told her several times since they started dating that she didn't have to knock so she decided she might as well take him up on the offer. She called his name as soon as she set foot inside and he emerged from his work area, a test tube in each hand and a worried expression on his face.

"Avery, what's wrong?" he asked, likely thinking her suddenly bursting in was a sign of some sort of emergency.

"I..." she paused to gather her thoughts, unconsciously licking her lips at the sight of him. His usual long coat and cravat had been discarded, and he'd opened the top two buttons on his shirt, allowing the barest hint of his smooth, pale chest to peek through.

"Have you read this?" she finally asked, holding up the book in one hand.

Klaus chuckled a bit, his posture relaxing considerably, and he wandered back to his work station to set down the test tubes in their proper places.

"Is that what you're so worked up about? Iris' book? What did she do, kill the main character off?"

"It _us_ , Klaus!" Avery informed him, following him into the room and setting the book down on an empty corner of the table where he kept his implements. He turned his head to look at her, blinking in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she took the two of us, changed our names, and put us in her book!" Avery exclaimed, picking the book up once more and flipping to one of the first pages of the story. "See?"

Klaus looked down to where she was pointing and shrugged. "So she named them Kevin and Alexa. It could just be a coincidence."

"It's _not_ a coincidence," Avery insisted. "Kevin's older and has a hard time admitting his feelings for Alexa. Sound familiar?"

"It's not an uncommon trope in romance novels," Klaus pointed out to her. "Besides, a lot of writers derive inspiration from their everyday lives. It doesn't mean she wrote the story _specifically_ about us."

"Kevin is an orphan, while Alexa's parents are an artist and a retired farmer," Avery continued, looking at the book and flipping through to various passages, tapping her finger to the open page on occasion to emphasize each of her points. "She has blonde hair and brown eyes. He has black hair and gold eyes. Oh! And he's also got a tattoo on his right shoulder, just like you. How Iris knows what your tattoo looks like while I've yet to see it, I would love to know... but that's besides the point, here! She's put our love life into this book for everyone in the world to read about. I'm sure that all the people we know are going to read it, and as soon as they see it they'll..."

Her voice trailed off as she turned to him once more and found he had removed his waistcoat and was unbuttoning his shirt the rest of the way. His gaze was set upon her, his expression unreadable, and she could only stare as he continued to undress before her very eyes. He wasn't overly built, but still muscular enough to have a well-defined chest and abs, and Avery's breath caught in her throat when the thin line of dark hair trailing downward from his navel came into view.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked as he began tugging the shirttails from his trousers, her voice a mere whisper.

"I'm going to show you my tattoo. That's what all this is really about, right? You think I slept with Iris at some point and that's how she knows what it looks like."

Avery bit her lip and looked away from him, placing the open book on his work table. She was ashamed to admit it, but he was right. She hadn't minded at all that Iris had based her characters off of them until she came to the part which described Kevin's tattoo. It had been obvious from his reaction when she first discovered its existence that Klaus wasn't exactly forthcoming about the fact he even had one, and the only way she could come up with that Iris could have possibly seen it was if the two of them had been intimate with each other at some point.

"Tell me, is this what Kevin's tattoo looks like?" Klaus asked, pulling her attention back to him. His expression was still unreadable, and Avery began to feel a knot of dread curling up within her stomach. His shirt had been discarded, and he turned around to show her the tattoo on his right shoulder. It was a single black rose with thorny vines growing from it.

"This isn't it," she told him, reaching up to run her fingertips over the flower, tracing its petals and then following the curve of the longer vine that spiraled downward. "His was a cross with ivy growing on it."

Klaus turned to face her once more and Avery lowered her hand to her side, her eyes following suit and focusing on the floor. To her surprise, instead of moving away to redress, he instead slid one of his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, his opposite hand catching under her chin and tilting her head up until her gaze met his.

"I'm not angry with you," he told her, shaking his head slightly. "I am, however, upset that you broke your promise to me. You said you would tell me whenever something was bothering you and not hold it inside."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Avery apologized, tears stinging the back of her eyes. "It's just... I don't know how to explain it..."

Klaus gave her a sympathetic nod and leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, sighing softly and closing his eyes. "I understand. The idea of having to face someone I've been with before you on an occasional basis is bad enough, let alone what it would be like to have to see them every day. I hate to admit it, but I'd be the same way with any of your past boyfriends."

"So you and Iris have never dated?" she asked, just to be sure.

"Not once," Klaus assured her. "We tend to ride the train together into the city and back when we both travel there on business, and occasionally we'll have lunch together while we're there, but it's only ever been as friends. Nothing more."

Avery nodded and a relieved sigh escaped her lips, prompting Klaus to give her a brief kiss before pulling back to look at her once more.

"I can stop doing that, if it bothers you."

"No," Avery insisted, shaking her head. "I'm not so jealous that I'll demand you have no female friends. I just don't want her seeing you naked."

Klaus chuckled and brought his lips down to hers for another kiss. "Deal."

Before he had a chance to pull away, Avery reached up and caught the back of his head, pulling him back down once more. She pressed her lips hard against his, taking him by surprise, then astonished him even more by deftly working her tongue into his mouth. Klaus allowed her to dominate the kiss as he backed her up against the wall between his work station and the dining area, then turned the tables and pushed past her lips to plunder her mouth with his own tongue. She attempted to regain control of the kiss, and he almost let her before asserting his dominance once more, one of his hands reaching up to tangle in her long hair and angling her head slightly to allow him easier access. Avery whimpered in frustration and released her grip around his neck, her hands traveling slowly down over his shoulders and chest. She curled her fingers inward as she reached his lower abdomen, gently scratching her nails against the sensitive skin there and causing Klaus to buck his hips forward into hers. Dipping her fingers into the waistband of his trousers, she pulled him even closer to her and pushed back against him, drawing a moan from somewhere deep in the back of his throat. Her fingers slid along the waistline to meet in the front, heading for the fastenings there, but he suddenly released his hold on her to grasp her by her wrists and pinned her hands to the wall above her head as he broke the kiss.

"What are you doing?" he asked breathlessly.

"I want to see the rest of you," Avery admitted, biting her bottom lip. Klaus smiled and leaned forward to kiss her briefly, then shook his head.

"Not yet, love," he reprimanded her, then let go of her hands and backed away. Avery remained motionless as she watched him walk across the room to retrieve his shirt and waistcoat, but instead of putting them back on he placed them upon his work table and picked up the book she'd brought with her.

"Read to me," Klaus instructed, holding the book out to her. Avery reached out and took it from him, unsure how to react to the request.

"You want me to read Iris' book to you?" she asked, to be sure she'd understood what he wanted of her.

"Not _all_ of it," he clarified. "Just skip ahead to the good parts."

"You mean the dirty parts," she said with a smile and Klaus nodded, a sly grin on his face.

"I want to know exactly what Iris thinks we should be doing behind closed doors," he told her, reaching out and taking one of her hands in his. He kissed the back of it and led her over to his bed, then sat down and gestured for her to join him. Avery hesitated a moment, then took a seat near the head of the bed, facing him as he sat at her feet with his back against the wall.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" she wondered, slowly turning the pages of the book in her lap. She already knew exactly which page the first love scene started on – and every other one in the novel, for that matter – but she was hopeful that Klaus would change his mind and save her the embarrassment of having to read the passage out loud. "You've read Iris' books. You know how she can get when writing these scenes."

"I _do_ know," Klaus told her with a nod, carefully pulling off her work shoes and dropping them on the floor next to his bed. "I also know that since the characters in this particular book were modeled after us, you most likely replaced them with us in your mind as you were reading, and I'd love to know what you've been fantasizing about lately."

He smiled at her and began massaging her feet, and Avery closed her eyes and let out a soft moan as she felt her apprehension suddenly melt away. Without any further hesitation, she turned to the page she had been pretending to look for and began to read to him.

"Alexa felt helpless as she watched Kevin stalking toward her like some sort of great jungle cat, his golden eyes fixed hungrily upon hers. Her heart beat so loudly she could hear it in her own ears, and without even realizing it she let out a gasp as he finally closed in on her. This had been her idea, she reminded herself. He'd told her he'd been holding back all this time, and she had been the one to insist he stop. She had no right to be scared of him now. After all, she had wanted this."

She stopped reading and looked to Klaus. "Um... do you want me to read Kevin's dialogue, or would you like to do it?" she asked him. Klaus grinned and crawled up the mattress to lie next to her on the bed, resting on his side and propping his head up with his hand. Avery turned the book so he could see and pointed to where she had left off.

"'Sweet little girls like you shouldn't go around temping big, bad wolves,' Kevin told her, his heated gaze sliding down the length of her body and back up to her wary eyes. 'Otherwise, they're likely to end up being eaten.'" Klaus sat up and took the book from her, his eyes skimming over the page. "What the hell... How did she know I said that?"

"Marian?" Avery suggested with a shrug of her shoulders, and Klaus groaned.

"Probably. I swear, I'm never telling him anything private ever again."

"Yeah, but you stopped at that," Avery reminded him, "Kevin doesn't."

"So I see," Klaus said, his eyes lighting up as he read over a certain passage, a smile slowly forming on his face. "I think I can do _much_ better than my fictional counterpart, though."

Tossing aside the book, he leaned over and kissed her, his lips firm yet gentle at the same time. Avery reached up to thread her fingers into his hair, and he laid her back on the bed, moving to place himself above her, one of his legs coming to rest between hers. He gradually built up the intensity of their kiss, teasing her by dipping his tongue just between her lips before withdrawing over and over again until she whimpered in frustration, then delving suddenly into her mouth. At the same time, he pressed his thigh firmly up against her sex, drawing a moan of pleasure from her which he echoed in return as he trailed his kisses from her mouth down to her neck.

"Klaus..."

His name fell from Avery's lips somewhere between a whimper and a moan, and it spurred him on even more. His hand began to wander across her body, fondling one of her breasts through her clothes before following the line of her figure, down her side and over her waist until it finally came to rest at her hip.

"My darling Avery," he said as he gently nipped a trail across her collarbone. "My sweet girl... My beautiful love... Allow me to show you how much I cherish you."

Avery was vaguely aware of her skirt being pulled up as he spoke, and soon she felt his hand sliding up the bare length of her thigh. She was about to remind him of how he'd said they should wait to have sex, but then she felt his knuckles brush between her legs and all sense left her. He began to stroke her lightly through her underwear and her eyes fell closed as she bit back the moan which was trying to crawl its way out of her throat.

"You don't have to hold back, love," Klaus told her, his lips once more over hers. "We're all alone, here. Let me hear you."

The self-conscious side of her wanted to continue to hold back, but once he slid his fingers underneath the edge of her panties and began to stroke her without the thin layer of cotton in the way all of her inhibitions fell aside. She arched her back toward him slightly as she let out a soft moan, wordlessly pleading with him to continue what he was doing. Klaus groaned and buried his face against her neck, kissing her pulse.

"You're so wet, Avery," he said, tracing around her entrance with the tip of one finger. "Is that all for me?"

"Yes, Klaus," she replied, whimpering as he continued to tease her with feather-light caresses.

"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully. "And do you get this wet when you touch yourself at home?"

"Yes," she admitted, gasping loudly when his hand moved a bit higher and he found the sensitive bundle of nerves hidden there and began circling it with his finger.

"Do you enjoy me touching you like this?" he asked, kissing a trail from the throbbing pulse in her neck to her earlobe, which he then caught between his teeth and gave a small tug.

Avery nodded mutely, panting as she arched her hips up slightly off the bed.

Klaus pressed his lips close to her ear and whispered, "Would you like me to make you come?"

"Please, Klaus," she begged him, turning her head to look at him.

Klaus groaned and captured her lips in a hungry kiss, sliding one of his fingers deep inside her. She whimpered into the kiss, her legs coming together slightly in an automatic response to the intrusion, but she soon relaxed as he began slowly working his finger in and out of her, pausing occasionally to circle her clit a few times with his thumb. After a couple of minutes, she felt herself being stretched a bit more as he added a second finger to the first, and she raised her hips slightly off the bed to offer him better access.

"I love you, Klaus." She managed to utter the words amidst all of the feverish kissing and the various sounds of pleasure she could no longer contain as she began to rock herself against his hand.

"I love you, too," he replied, changing the angle of his hand and curling his fingers ever so slightly.

Avery gasped loudly and her back arched fully off the bed as he hit a new spot within her she hadn't known existed, and Klaus chuckled darkly and leaned in to bite playfully at her neck.

"Wh-what are you... Oh!" she cried out as he continued rubbing that same spot over and over, delivering shocks of pleasure to every nerve in her body with each slow, measured stroke of his fingers. Her eyes fell closed and one of her hands went between her legs, trying to get him to go faster, but he continued at the languid pace he had already set.

"Look at me, Avery," he requested, and Avery struggled to comply, but the best she could manage was a half-lidded gaze. Klaus was hovering over her, breathing almost as hard as she was. The intensity of his gaze caused a small, excited shudder to course through her body, and her eyes fluttered closed once more as she began to feel the tension mounting in her core.

"Keep your eyes open," Klaus ordered, and Avery managed to open them once more, causing him to smile. "I want to see how beautiful you are when you come for me."

His words and the husky, carnal tone of voice in which he said them were her final undoing. Her entire body shuddered as she cried out his name, and though she knew he had wanted to see the look in her eyes she couldn't help them falling closed as she tumbled into rapturous bliss. She heard him utter an almost primal, animalistic growl, and before she knew it he was fully above her and claiming her mouth in a wild clashing of lips and teeth and tongues. The hand in her underwear withdrew and then pulled them aside, exposing her wet heat, while the other hand worked its way up under her blouse, pushing it up over her bra. Klaus broke the kiss to sit up and pull her blouse off over her head, and in that moment she could clearly see the fullness of his erection straining against the front of his trousers.

Avery swallowed nervously at the perceived size of his manhood and the sudden realization of where things were heading, but before she could protest his mouth was upon hers once again. His kiss was still passionate, but lacked the raw ferocity of the previous one and – as if he sensed her apprehension – he further toned it down until their tongues were slowly mingling with each other. He then began to kiss his way down the column of her throat to her chest, where he traced the slope of her cleavage with the tip of his tongue.

"Klaus," she whispered his name, shivering as he suckled upon one of her nipples through her bra.

"I want you so badly right now, Avery," he groaned in response, nuzzling her neck.

"I want you, too," came her response, and that was all he needed to hear to lose control.

Klaus' mouth found hers and he immediately kissed her deeply, his tongue tangling wildly with hers. Taking one of her hands in his, he threaded his fingers through hers and pinned it next to her head on the mattress. Avery whimpered into the kiss as his other hand ran down the length of her body, gently squeezing her breast before traveling along her side to rest upon her hip. He pressed himself between her legs and she moaned into the kiss, instinctively raising her leg up along the outside of his, and Klaus ran his hand down her thigh. His grip tightened around the back of her knee, and he raised her leg slightly higher, coaxing her to wrap it around his waist as he began grinding against her. She followed his lead and eased her leg around him, and Klaus' hand moved between her legs, touching her briefly before withdrawing completely.

Avery groaned in protest and opened her eyes to gaze up at him, then let out a shaky breath at the look of pure lust in his eyes. His lips were soon upon hers once more, and she whimpered as she heard the soft sound of the zipper on his trousers being undone. She shifted beneath him, suddenly unsure about whether they should continue, and accidentally brushed up against him. He moaned deep into her mouth, resuming his previous act of grinding himself between her legs, and she broke the kiss to arch her back, his name falling from her mouth in a breathless whisper. She could feel him even better without the heavy wool of his trousers in the way, and the smooth, cool fabric of his boxers provided a very pleasurable contrast to the heat of her body.

"Do you want this, Avery?" Klaus asked her, pressing into her even more firmly and letting out a quiet groan.

"Yes," she gasped in reply, reaching up with her free hand and grasping the hair at the back of his head to press his mouth to hers, catching his bottom lip between his teeth and tugging on it just enough to prompt him to let out a deeper, more primal groan of pleasure.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Marian rushed into the house, looking about frantically.

"Klaus! Are you okay? You're late for you appoint... ment..." his voice trailed off as he made his way toward the bed, finally realizing what was going on. " _Oh my_!"

Avery's eyes flew open wide and she pulled Klaus down on top of her in an attempt to hide her current state of undress. Realizing that was probably only making the situation worse, she hid her face against his shoulder as she turned bright scarlet.

"I'll reschedule for later this week," she heard Klaus growl at his best friend, and Avery could feel him starting to shake with anger.

"Carry on, then" Marian said, heading back through the house. "I'll just lock the door on my way out."

The door closed behind him and Klaus let out a shaky breath, leaning down and placing his head next to Avery's. He released the hand he'd been pinning to the bed and moved his arm down to wrap around her waist, the other following suit so that he was holding her tightly against him. Avery wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him him close as he continued to shake, and it wasn't until she heard him let out another trembling sigh that she realized he was crying.

"Klaus? What's wrong?" she asked, attempting to turn her head and catch his gaze. All the could see was his profile, though. His eyes were closed tightly and a sad smile formed on his lips as he let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"I haven't changed at all," he whispered.

"Yes, you have," Avery insisted, causing him to finally turn his head and look at her. Seeing the tears in his eyes broke her heart, and she reached up to brush his slightly damp hair out of his eyes.

"I _am_ the big, bad wolf I warned you about," he told her firmly. "All I cared about just now was my own selfish desires."

"That's not true. You asked me if I wanted it," she reminded him. "You never would have asked if you didn't care about me."

Klaus closed his eyes and swallowed thickly, shaking his head. "I've asked a lot of girls that question, Avery. All the ones who said they didn't want it, I did everything in my power to convince them otherwise. And it would have been the same with you if you'd said no."

"I refuse to believe that I'm just another conquest to you, Klaus," Avert told him, her own eyes starting to fill with tears.

"You're not, but I would have treated you like one. I _did_ treat you like one," he admitted. "I sensed your hesitation, but I kept pushing. And if not for Marian, I would have ended up doing something we'd both end up regretting."

"I wouldn't have regretted it," Avery said. "I love you."

A choked sob escaped her lips and Klaus opened his eyes to find tears streaming down her face. He slid his arms out from under her and sat up on the bed, then carefully pulled her into his lap and held her while she cried, nuzzling the top of her head.

"Please don't cry, love," he told her, struggling to keep himself from losing his composure, as well. "I didn't mean it like that. I could never regret being with you. It's the way things were about to happen that I would have regretted."

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking up at him, and Klaus leaned down to kiss her softly.

"First of all, I love you. You know that, right?" He waited for her nod to continue. "The thing is... Right now, I just wanted to fuck you, and that's what I would have regretted. Fucking you. Hot and dirty sex is great, but that's not what I want for our first time together. Especially since it's going to be _your_ first time."

"I don't understand," Avery said, shaking her head. "You do want to have sex with me, but you _don't_ want to have sex with me?"

"I didn't want to _fuck_ you, just now," Klaus attempted to clarify things for her. "Our first time together, I want to make love to you. There's a _big_ difference."

"Something emotional and not just physical," Avery remarked as she rested her hand upon his chest, just over his heart.

"Exactly."

"You don't regret what we _did_ do, though, right?" she asked him, and Klaus smiled and kissed her.

"Not one bit," he assured her. "At least the first part. I do still sort of regret that things went as far as they did. But only because it showed me how weak I really am. None of my regret has anything to do with you or something you did."

"Really?"

"Really," Klaus told her, kissing her once more. "You were perfect. I can't think of any other words to describe it. You're so beautiful and responsive and those sexy noises you were making... Goddess, I could just listen to them all night and day for the rest of my life."

"You were making some pretty sexy noises there, yourself," she informed him, blushing a bit.

"You like that, do you?" Klaus remarked, smiling at her. "I shall have to keep that in mind for next time."

"So there _will_ be a next time?" Avery asked hopefully, biting her lip and blushing even more as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

"Sooner or later, but for now I think we should slow things down a bit," he told her. Avery nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, then rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

"Fair enough, but can I stay here with you like this for the rest of the afternoon? It's really comfortable."

Klaus chuckled. "I would certainly love to let you do that, but I have work I need to finish. I should probably go see Marian about rescheduling that yearly physical I forgot about today, too."

Avery winced. "You might also want to make sure he doesn't go blabbing to everyone in town that he caught us having sex."

"He won't," Klaus said. "I already warned him about spreading gossip he doesn't have the proof to back up."

"Yeah, but I think it was pretty obvious what we were up to. My, um..." she paused as she searched for the right words, blushing, "lady parts were on full display, your pants are still hanging open, and neither of us is wearing a shirt. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."

"I'll talk to him," Klaus reassured her, picking up her blouse from where he had placed it upon the bed and handing it to her. "For now, let's get dressed and I'll walk you back into town."

"Klaus?"

He paused in helping Avery up out of his lap and looked at her when she said his name, only to find her staring at his chest and worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

"I love you, Avery," he told her, somehow knowing exactly what she needed him to say.

Avery sighed and nodded her head, and Klaus pulled her back into his arms again.

"Nothing will ever change the fact that I love you, Klaus," she replied, and he tightened his arms around her and continued to hold her for a bit longer.

She would never know it, but those were the words he'd needed to hear. Still, there was a part of him which feared that she would eventually change her mind. For now, however, he was content to simply take comfort in her presence and try to forget about all the mistakes he'd made.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

Avery flipped through the pages of land permits sitting upon the information desk in town hall, looking over each one and attempting to decide her best strategy for the new season. The permit for the orchard was about to come up, but she already had all of the trees she really needed planted on her own farm and the land she's inherited from Eda. Besides, in order to get to the orchard she would have to go completely out of the way from where the other fields she was renting were located, so she decided to leave it for whoever else might want use of the land. The one thing that genuinely interested her was the paddy, which was the only place where anyone in town could grow rice. She knew she could easily purchase all the rice she needed from Asche, but it would be much more cost-effective if she could grow her own, especially now that she had finally purchased the machinery needed to harvest her own seeds from her crops.

Her heart sank when she saw the name of the farmer who currently owned the rights to the field: Elise. Even though the prissy rich girl didn't have a single farmer's bone in her body, she still had a staff full of servants who worked her farm and the lands she owned like a well-oiled machine. She knew if she didn't go after the paddy now, though, she would have to wait half a year before the lease would come due again. With a heavy sigh she weighed her options, then noticed that someone else had also put in a request to compete for the rights to use the paddy. The scrawl was somewhat childish and barely legible, which meant it could only be Fritz's name on the registration form. He'd elected to take Elise on in a competition of monetary gains through a single day's worth of trading. Avery knew he didn't stand a chance. Fritz had trouble making ends meet almost every season – except for the past winter, when he'd had both her and Agate helping him run his farm.

Taking a deep breath, she resolved to do her best and signed her name under Fritz's. If she won the rights to the paddy, she would offer to let him use half of it. That was the least she could do for him. She had some gemstones she'd been hiding at the bottom of her storage chest, and the first batch of her wine was expected to be ready within the next couple of days. Perhaps those few items, along with her usual bushels of vegetables and the milk and eggs from her livestock would add up to enough profit to outrank little Miss Elise von Tuffel.

"Ah! Avery! I see you've decided to participate in a land conquest?" Veronica asked upon greeting her, and Avery nodded as she handed over the forms. The guild master looked them over and smiled. "Very good. If you don't mind, though, I would like to have a word with you. If you have the time, that is. I know how busy you must be."

"I have some free time. What is it you want to talk about?" Avery asked. The other woman set down the paperwork for the land permits on the nearby desk and gestured for her to follow upstairs. Confused, Avery followed her to the living quarters she shared with her daughter. Veronica invited her to sit and offered to make her some tea, which she politely declined.

"What is all this about?" she asked impatiently as the older woman busied herself in the kitchen, gathering some pastries onto a tray.

"There is something I have been wanting to discuss with you for a while."

"If it's about the memorial for Madam Eda, I spoke with Gunther about that a couple of weeks ago and told him it was fine to place it where he wanted to."

"It's not that," Veronica told her with a polite smile as she set down the tray she had been loading with various treats upon the table in front of Avery, then took a seat across from her. "It concerns your relationship with Klaus."

Avery had been reaching for one of the jam tarts, but stopped with her hand mid-air and sat back, suddenly not feeling in the mood for sweets. She looked down at her skirt and straightened the folds, then carefully examined her boots – anything she could do to avoid the stern gaze of the guild master.

"I first learned of this the day of the tea party you held for the traders, but I felt it would be imprudent to bring up the subject in front of them," Veronica continued, selecting a biscuit from the tray and calmly dipping it into her tea as she spoke.

"Is there some sort of problem with me dating Klaus?" Avery wondered, finally looking back up to her.

"Not per se," Veronica replied with a small shake of her head. "In fact, I was just as glad as everyone else in town when I discovered the two of you were finally together. You make a lovely couple."

"Then what's the problem?" Avery asked, annoyed at how she was beating around the bush.

"It has come to my attention that the two of you have entered into a more... intimate stage of your relationship."

Avery tensed, but didn't look away. "So?"

"So, this is a small town, Avery," Veronica reminded her. "This isn't the city. Around here, women don't go around falling into a man's bed at every change they get."

" _Excuse me_?"

"I don't mean to sound harsh," Veronica assured her, holding up one hand to stop her from making any sort of angry outburst. "I like you, and I'm just trying to look out for your reputation."

"Sounds to me like you're accusing me of being some sort of slut," Avery snapped.

"That's not what I'm saying-"

"For your information," Avery cut her off. "Klaus and I have _never_ had sex. We fooled around _once_. That's it, aside for some intense kissing – _none_ of which has taken place in public here in your precious little town."

"I just want to-"

"Furthermore, he and I are both consenting adults, so I don't see how it's any of _your_ business what we do together behind closed doors. _Especially_ considering you're currently having an affair with Maurice."

Veronica blinked in shock, her eyes going wide. "How...?"

"I've had an idea there was some sort of attraction between you two since the Music Festival last fall," Avery explained. "Then, after Eda died, I started seeing you together more and more. Klaus told me about Maurice making you madelines for White Day, and then last week I happened to be in town before any of the shops opened to take a look at the spot where you told me I could set up a cart to sell my wine. I saw you leaving the inn, Veronica, and there is no logical reason for you to have been there that early unless you spent the night."

"Please, don't tell anyone," the guild master begged in a quiet whisper, her eyes downcast in shame.

"Why are you two trying to hide it?" Avery wondered. "It's not like either of you are cheating on your spouse. Your husband and his wife have both been dead for years."

"Angela and Lillie-"

"Are best friends," Avery cut her off once more. "And they're both grown women. I think they can handle the idea of their parents being together, especially if it makes the two of you happy. In fact, they'd probably love it because then they would get to be sisters, too. As for Melanie, she told me at the Starlight Gala that every year she wishes for a mom. Why can _you_ be the mother she's been hoping for?"

"You don't understand," Veronica told her, setting her teacup down. "You can't possibly understand, because you've never been married."

"Then explain it to me," Avery requested.

"When you marry someone, you make a sacred vow to love them for as long as you shall live," Veronica explained.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Veronica, but your husband is gone and he's _not_ coming back. Surely, you've accepted that?"

Veronica nodded and Avery stood up with a sigh, moving to sit next to her on the other side of the table. She reached over and took one of the older woman's hands in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Just because you're ready to move on with someone else doesn't mean you don't love him any more," she assured her. "And wherever he is right now, I'm sure he would want you to be happy."

Veronica laughed quietly. "You know, I brought you up here so I could lecture _you_ about your sexual relationship with Klaus, and here you are lecturing _me_ about my love life."

Avery signed and released her hand. "So? Go ahead and lecture."

"I've... decided not to," Veronica acquiesced with a sigh. "You're right. The two of you are consenting adults and what you choose to do in private is none of my business. But, please... do be careful. I would hate to see you end up a single, unwed mother."

"Veronica, I don't know what you may or may not have heard about Klaus," Avery said, smiling a little, "but he's a good man. _If_ I were to unexpectedly end up pregnant, he wouldn't just leave me to raise the baby on my own."

"You truly think that?" the older woman asked, sounding unsure.

"Yes," Avery told her with conviction. "He and I already had a brief discussion about children, and we both want them."

"I'm sure you two would have very beautiful children together," Veronica said with a smile, attempting to remove any remaining tension that might have been between them. Avery returned the gesture and stood, finally picking up one of the jam tarts from the tea tray on the table and nibbling on it as she headed for the stairs.

"We'll have to wait and see about that, I suppose," she mused, popping the last bit of the tart into her mouth as she gave Veronica a wink and went back down to the guild hall.

She considered going home to try to gather together as many valuable items as she could in preparation for her conquest with Elise, but paused once more at the front desk. Veronica had obviously heard about what happened between her and Klaus from _someone_ , and she had a very good idea who that someone was. Normally, she would have left Klaus to deal with him, but since she was already there she decided she might as well give the doctor a piece of her mind. Taking a deep breath to attempt to remain as calm as she possibly could in spite of the anger which was gently boiling just beneath the surface of her normally friendly demeanor, she rounded the large reception desk and opened the door leading to the clinic at the back of the building.

"Marian, we need to talk," she addressed the doctor, then froze when she saw he was already with a patient.

"What's wrong, love?" Klaus asked her, looking up from where Marian was taking a blood sample. She blinked a few times, then shook her head and rushed over to where he was sitting.

"Are you okay?" She placed a hand on his shoulder, her earlier concerns replaced with worry for his well-being. Marian chuckled as he removed the needle from Klaus' right arm and shook the vial of blood in his hands a few times before placing it in a holder with two others.

"As far as I can tell, he's fine."

"I was just getting my physical done," Klaus explained, rolling down his sleeve and buttoning the cuff, then wrapping his arms around Avery and pulling him down into his lap. She let out a relieved breath she hadn't realized she was holding and rested her head against his, her eyes falling closed.

"What is it you needed to talk to me about?" Marian wondered, setting the blood on his desk and checking some boxes on a form.

Avery sighed and looked over at him. "Veronica just called me a slut."

"What?" Klaus nearly barked the question, anger flashing in his eyes. She turned to him and kissed him briefly, placing a hand on his chest and shaking her head.

"It's okay, she and I talked and I set her straight," she explained, then nodded toward the doctor. "But obviously someone told her about what happened between us."

"I know," Klaus said with a nod, his jaw tightening. "She spoke to me, too, but I already explained to her nothing happened. She had no reason to confront you."

"She shouldn't have had a reason to need to confront _either_ of us!" Avery pointed out, turning fully toward Marian. "Didn't Klaus tell you not to go blabbing about what you saw?"

"I didn't tell anyone anything!" Marian insisted, throwing his hands up in the air. "I promise!"

"He really didn't, Avery," Klaus vouched for him.

"Then where did she get the idea we had sex?" Avery demanded, her eyes still focused upon the biggest gossip she knew.

"Angela overheard us talking about what happened," Marian explained, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the side of his desk. "My guess is she told her mother."

Avery pondered his logic for a bit before finally accepting it with a nod. Angela wasn't the type to gossip, but something like Marian walking in on her and Klaus in the middle of an intimate moment certainly was an amusing story and she probably didn't think anything of sharing the embarrassing tale with her mother over dinner.

"What did Veronica say to you?" Klaus asked her, his arms tightening around her waist.

"She said I shouldn't just be falling into your bed at every chance and that she doesn't want to see me ending up an unwed mother."

Klaus chuckled a little and finally relaxed, kissing her neck. "That's pretty much what she said to me. She doesn't want me 'making a little mistake' and ruining your reputation."

"Sounds like she's more concerned about Avery than you," Marian remarked.

"She has a daughter," Avery reasoned, shrugging. "Besides, if I get pregnant it's not like I can just run away from it the way Klaus would be able to."

"You think I _would_ run away?" Klaus asked her and she shook her head as she turned to smile at him.

"I know you would never leave me, even if something like that happened."

"Speaking of leaving," Klaus said, kissing her briefly before coaxing her up out of his lap. "I think we should get out of Marian's way so he can get back to work."

"You two aren't in my way at all," Marian assured them, waving off Klaus' concern.

Klaus chuckled and grabbed his coat off the back of the chair he had been sitting in. "Allow me to rephrase, then: I think we should get out of here so Marian can't use us as an excuse to neglect doing his job."

Avery laughed and waited for Klaus to finish putting on his coat, then linked her arm through his. Marian instructed Klaus to come back in three days for his test results, and the two of them bade him goodbye as they walked out of the clinic together. Veronica smiled at them from behind the desk in the main hall as they passed by, though the three of them didn't bother exchanging any sort of pleasantries. Avery just wanted to get away from the situation as quickly as possible, and was glad that Klaus didn't feel a need to defend her honor by telling off the guild master for lecturing her earlier.

"Everything's really okay, right?" she asked him once they were outside. "I mean, those tests Marian was talking about... they're not for anything serious, are they?"

"No, love," Klaus assured her with a smile, kissing her forehead. "Just routine blood work. Marian's concerned that I might be a bit anemic, but that's the worst of it."

"Good," she replied with a nod. "So, what shall we do today?"

"Actually, I have something I need to do in the city," he told her.

"But it's Tuesday," Avery said, her brow furrowing in confusion as she shook her head.

"I know, and I'm sorry." He leaned down and kissed her briefly. "I promise we'll do something together this weekend, okay?"

Avery forced a smile and nodded. "Okay. Sounds good. Be careful, all right?"

Klaus smiled and kissed her once more, lingering a bit longer before puling away. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

Avery watched him walk briskly toward the stairs leading away from the town square, biting her lip nervously. He never went into the city for business on Tuesdays, but perhaps he had a client who was unable to meet with him on the days he was usually there. Then again, maybe he was going to visit with Antonio – but if that was the case, wouldn't he have just told her that was where he was going? She knew she was probably being silly, wondering what he was doing, but Tuesdays were one of the days they had set aside just for them.

"It's just one day," she told herself, laughing off her irrational fear. Still, it seemed as though he wouldn't have even told her he was going to the city if she hadn't run into him. She would have ended up sitting at his house, waiting for him all day and worrying. That wasn't like Klaus. He always let her know when he would be too busy with work for them to do something, and even when he was he would still make sure to set aside half an hour for her so they could spend a little time together. The fact that he didn't even let her know that he would be going to the city and unable to meet with her for their usual Tuesday brunch was very unlike the man she knew.

It wasn't him going to the city on an off day that bothered her, she suddenly realized. It was that Klaus was acting strange... almost like he was trying to hide something from her.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

Avery looked about nervously as she stood on the stoop of Raeger's restaurant, a basket hanging from her arm. The sun was just barely starting to peek up over the horizon and the most of the town was still fast asleep. All was quiet, save for the grumbling of Fritz, who was kneeling next to her with his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he started at the lock on the building's front door.

"Come on!" he angrily whispered when he tried the knob once more to find the door still wouldn't budge.

"Why are we doing this, again?" Avery asked him.

"Because it's Raeger's birthday," Fritz reminded her, and she rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"I _know_ it's his birthday, but why do we have to break in to his place?"

Fritz shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I thought it would be cool if we could surprise him by making breakfast for him, and I don't have a kitchen at my place."

" _I_ have one, you know," Avery reminded him, and he finally tore his attention away from the lock to look up at her.

"I know, but you live all the way at the top of the mountain. If we cooked up there and then brought it down here, it would be cold by the time Raeger finally got to eat it. Besides, fresh is better!"

Avery threw up her hands in surrender and dropped the argument, then sighed and leaned back against the frame of the door, closing her eyes. If they didn't hurry things up, there would be no surprising Raeger. Soon enough, he would be up and about doing his usual prep work in order to get the restaurant ready for opening later in the morning.

"I think I... got it!" Fritz proudly announced, flashing a large grin at Avery as he turned the doorknob and the door finally swung open. He stood and stuck the makeshift lock pick he'd brought from home into his pocket, then held the door to allow her to go inside ahead of him.

"Where did you learn how to pick locks, anyway?" Avery wondered as she stepped into the darkened restaurant and went over to the counter to set down the basket of ingredients Fritz had asked her to bring along the day before.

"This older kid I knew when I was little," Fritz told her as he opened the blinds to let in what little morning light there was in order to allow them to see what they were doing. "He was constantly breaking into people's houses. He never really took anything, but he always said one day he was going to be some great thief."

"I'm guessing he's in jail, now?" Avery wondered as she began unloading eggs and vegetables and other various products from her farm onto the counter. Fritz laughed and ran a hand back though his messy auburn hair.

"You know... I honestly don't know whatever happened to him."

"He's probably in jail," Avery asserted, smirking at him before bending down to search under the counter for where Raeger kept his cooking implements.

The two of them quietly set to work making breakfast, Fritz grilling vegetables and sausages while Avery made a frittata using cheese crafted from the milk of her cows and fresh eggs she had gathered right before leaving to meet Fritz at the crossroads near his house. While she waited for the dish to bake, she boiled some water and poured three cups of tea – one for each of them. Fritz made a face at the drink when she offered it to him, but didn't complain, reasoning that he could add a bunch of honey to make it more palatable. Avery smiled at him and picked up one of the other cups, then made her way toward the stairs which led to Raeger's living quarters above the restaurant.

"I'm going to go wake up the birthday boy," she told Fritz, who has started preparing a few pieces of thickly-sliced bread for frying. "Could you take my frittata out in another minute or so?"

"Sure," Fritz agreed, flashing a smile.

She slowly walked up the stairs, her eyes glued to the cup in her hands. She'd filled it nearly to the top, a mistake she didn't realize until she was moving and the hot tea threatened to slosh out over the rim and burn her hands. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she carefully moved the teacup to one hand while she used the other to open the door, then crept across the floor toward where Raeger was sleeping, still keeping her gaze upon the tea.

"Happy birthday!" she called in a sing-song voice as she reached the bed, finally looking up to where her best friend was stretched out on top of the covers... completely naked.

Avery let out a surprised shriek and Raeger shot up into a sitting position on his bed, suddenly wide awake. The movement further shocked her, and she dropped the teacup, burning her hands and letting out another high-pitched scream which mixed in with the sound of the ceramic cup shattering on the floor.

"Avery! What's wrong? Is Raeger okay?" a panicked Fritz asked as he rushed into the room and came up behind her. She shook her head, her eyes shut tightly against both tears of pain and the sight of the naked man in front of her, and Raeger gave him a casual wave as he sat there, holding a pillow over his lap.

"I think she burned her hands, Fritz," the chef calmly informed him, though his cheeks were a bright shade of pink. "There's some cream and bandages in the first aid kit under the register."

"Aw, man... Okay, come on, Avery, I'll help you get fixed up," Fritz assured her, completely oblivious to the rest of the situation before him. He turned her toward the door and led her back downstairs, then helped her to sit on one of the stools at the counter before locating the first aid kit. Avery continued to keep her eyes shut, biting hard on her bottom lip as tears finally squeezed out of the corners of her eyes.

"How bad is it?" she heard Raeger asking as he came downstairs a minute later. She finally dared to open her eyes and was relieved to find he had put on a pair of dark blue pajama pants and was working on buttoning up the shirt over his chest. He stopped in front of her and reached for her hands. "Here, let me see."

Avery held out her hands to him, avoiding his eyes, and he gingerly turned them over and examined the spots where her skin had turned red from being scalded by the hot tea.

"Should we get Marian to take a look at her?" Fritz asked, handing him the cream from the first aid kit. Raeger shook his head as he took the cream and opened it.

"It looks worse than it is," he assured them both, gently applying the cream to the burns, causing Avery to hiss a little. "Your hands are going to be sore for a few days, but just keep applying this cream two or three times a day and you'll be back to good in no time."

Avery nodded a little as Fritz handed over the roll of bandages and Raeger began wrapping her hands. Three three of them remained quiet, Avery and Raeger avoiding looking each other in the eye while Fritz simply watched and winced each time she flinched at the feeling of the bandages pressing against her sore flesh.

"Fritz," she finally said after a moment, breaking the silence in the room. "Is my frittata out of the over?"

"Shoot!" Fritz rushed to the oven and yanked the door open, then let out a relieved sigh when he pulled out the dish containing her part of the breakfast they'd been making. "It's fine. Don't worry."

Raeger finished up bandaging Avery's hands while Fritz worked on piling up three plates with the food that had been prepared. He then gave his tea to Avery, instead opting to drink some juice he'd found in Raeger's personal refrigerator. Raeger and Avery remained relatively quiet as they ate, while Fritz talked continuously about what a great cook he was and how he was going to make a great husband someday.

"So you asked Agate to marry you?" Raeger asked him at that, causing Fritz to finally stop talking and turn bright red. He sputtered and stammered, and Avery laughed, finally meeting Raeger's eyes and receiving a wink.

"I'm not getting married _now_!" Fritz managed to blurt out after his initial floundering. "But... you know... someday, I might. Not before Avery and Klaus, though!"

Raeger chuckled. "You're probably right, there."

Avery looked back and forth between the two men, slowly chewing on a piece of grilled potato. "What?"

"You and Klaus talk about that, yet?" Raeger wondered.

"About what?" she asked after swallowing, wiping her mouth with a napkin and reaching for her tea.

"Marriage!" Fritz excitedly announced. "You know, I think you'd make a good wife, Avery."

"Are you hitting on me, Fritz?" she asked him, and he blushed and stuttered as he assured her that he wasn't. Avery chuckled and got up from her seat, then kissed Raeger on the cheek. "I'm going to go clean up the mess I made in your room."

"I'll help," he offered, moving to stand, as well.

"No, stay," she told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's your birthday. Enjoy your breakfast."

Raeger sat back down and Avery slowly made her way upstairs, sighing heavily once she reached the doorway to Raeger's living quarters. She continued over to where she had dropped the teacup near his bed and stopped short when she found the mess had already been mostly cleaned up.

"Wanna talk about it?"

She turned around to find Raeger leaning back against the wall, arms folded over his chest. Shaking her head, she turned away and stared at the wet spot on the floor once more.

"There's nothing to talk about," she insisted.

"Bullshit, Avery," he called her out. "I know you were trying to make a joke down there about Fritz hitting on you, but there was no mirth at all in your voice."

"I'm just tired," she lied. "I had to get up pretty damn early so we could get here and make you breakfast before you woke up, you know."

"Yeah, about that... How did you two get in? I could have sworn I locked the door last night before I went to bed."

"Fritz picked the lock," Avery told him, smiling a little at the look of surprise on his face. "I know... I had no idea he was such a delinquent, either, but apparently he had some shady friends as a kid."

"Interesting," Raeger mused, laughing. "So what happened between you and Klaus that has you so upset?"

Avery groaned and sat down on his bed then looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Do we _really_ need to have this discussion?"

"Yeah, I think we do," Raeger told her, his expression turning serious once more as he crossed the room and knelt down in front of her, carefully taking her hands in his. "It's clear to me that something's bothering you. What's wrong?"

"Klaus has been acting strange, lately," Avery said, shaking her head. "I'm probably just over-reacting, though."

"Strange how?" he asked, moving to sit next to her on the bed. She shook her head again and gave a false start before finally letting out a heavy sigh.

"Remember how I told you that he and I... you know?" She looked at him and he nodded, smirking, causing her to let out another sigh as she turned away again. "Forget it. I can't talk about this with you."

"No, don't... I'm sorry, okay?" he pleaded with her. "This is serious talk time, honest."

Avery refused to look at him, but continued speaking. "Ever since then, he's barely kissed me."

"Well, didn't you say the two of you agreed to slow things down?"

" _Slow_ _them down_ , not... nearly bring them to a stand-still," she said, her voice squeaking a bit in her repressed frustration. "Before, things were..." she paused and let out a rush of breath. "It was intense, even _before_ things went that far."

"And now?" Raeger prompted after she fell silent.

"Now, it's like... the passion... it's not there like it was before." She suddenly looked at him, and Raeger blinked in surprise at the tears in her eyes. "And I don't know where things went wrong."

"Things haven't gone wrong," he assured her, sighing and pulling her into his arms to hug her. "Come on, don't cry. You're being silly, you know. You told me yourself that Klaus freaked out when he realized what you two almost did. I'm sure he's just overdoing this whole 'taking things slower' thing because he wants to do right by you."

"What if that's not it?" Avery argued, pulling away from him and wiping at her eyes. "He went into town on a _Tuesday_ last week, Raeger. _Without_ telling me about it, first. That's not like him."

"Oh, well... In that case, I guess he doesn't love you any more," Raeger told her sarcastically, but she still let out a small sob.

"Shit, no... I didn't mean..."

"I know!" Avery said. "I know... I'm being stupid about this whole thing, but it still bothers me."

"I'm sure it's nothing," Raeger waved off her concern. "He's got a lot of rich clients in the city, right? And you know how those people are... They think that the entire world bends to their will."

"Kinda like Elise," Avery remarked, letting out a small laugh.

"Exactly. So I wouldn't be surprised if he got some last-minute call to the city from some overstuffed jackass who demanded he show up _that day_. Or, you know... you _do_ have a birthday coming up. Maybe he's planning some sort of surprise for you."

Avery blinked and Raeger winked at her, causing her to blush. She hadn't even stopped to consider that his secrecy might have something to do with her upcoming birthday. A smile began tugging at her lips as she imagined what he might be plotting, and Raeger chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.

"I take it you're feeling better, now?"

"A little," she answered with a nod, returning his gesture before standing. "Thank you, Raeger."

"Any time. Now what are you gonna do, though?" he wondered.

Avery's smile grew as she began backing up toward the stairs. "I'm going over to Klaus' house and I'm going to give him a wake-up call he won't soon forget."

She winked and Raeger chuckled, calling after her to go get him, and Avery took the stairs down two at a time. Fritz looked up from where he was washing the dishes and asked where she was going, and she told him she was going to see Klaus, which caused him to give her a confused look as it was still quite early and most of the town's residents would still be in bed. She simply laughed and told him she'd see him later, then ran outside and across town to the residential district of town. She pulled her kerchief off her head as she neared Klaus' home, and – after knocking on his door – she mussed up her hair a bit to make it look fuller.

It took him a while to come to the door, and when he opened it he was standing in his dark green pajamas, looking half-asleep and utterly confused at her presence on his stoop. Avery smirked when he asked her what time it was and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back inside and taking the door from him to push it closed.

"What's going on?" he asked her, his voice croaking a little in his tired state.

"Time for your wake-up call, Klaus," she told him, grasping the front of his shirt and pulling him down as she raised up on her toes to press her lips against his.

Klaus made a surprised sound in the back of his throat, his eyes going wide, but he soon recomposed himself and wrapped his arms around her waist as he kissed her back. Avery caught his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled on it the way she knew he liked, and he groaned loudly and backed her up against the door as he opened his mouth to her, allowing her to take control of the kiss. He soon stole it away from her, however, by pressing his hips forward against hers and allowing her to feel how aroused he was. Avery threw her head back with a gasp and he dove for her neck, his lips pressing over her pulse as he continued to grind himself into her as he kept her pressed back against the door.

"This is quite a surprise," he groaned against her neck before nipping at the sensitive spot where her neck sloped down to her shoulder, causing Avery to whimper.

"Talk about surprises," she replied, grinding against his hardness and drawing out a deep moan from him.

"It's morning," he reminded her, continuing to move against her suggestively. "Though I think he's even more awake than usual, thanks to you."

"Should I be apologizing for waking the two of you up?" she wondered, tightly grasping the front of his shirt once more when he suddenly bucked his hips hard against hers.

"Not at all, love," he told her, chuckling at her response. He reached up to take her hand in his and pulled back to look at it when he felt the bandages wrapped around her palm.

"What happened?" he asked her as he backed away from her completely, raising up her other hand and holding them both carefully in his. Avery sighed, closing her eyes and feeling frustrated at herself for having been so clumsy earlier as the magic of the moment was now gone.

"I spilled hot tea on my hands when I walked into Raeger's bedroom and saw him naked," she replied, causing Klaus to blink at her in shock.

"You were at Raeger's and he was naked?"

Avery sighed once more and explained everything to him, telling him all about how Fritz had suggested to her the day before that they should pay Raeger back for all the wonderful meals he'd made for them on special occasions by cooking him a special breakfast to celebrate his birthday. She gave him every detail about how they had broken into the restaurant, cooked breakfast, and then the way she had accidentally seen her best friend naked on his bed. Klaus remained silent, even after she had finished telling the story, and Avery finally opened her eyes to find him attempting to hold in his laughter.

"That must have been quite traumatic for you," he told her, a smile breaking through his serious expression.

"How do you know I didn't like what I saw?" she asked him flippantly.

" _Did_ _you_ like what you saw?" he asked in reply, stepping closer to her once more.

"To be honest, I didn't really see much of anything. As soon as I realized he wasn't wearing any clothes, I shut my eyes."

"Good," Klaus whispered against her lips, and Avery whimpered as he began teasing her by giving her the barest of kisses, brushing his lips faintly over hers before pulling away over and over again.

"Klaus?" she softly said his name after nearly a full minute him repeating the behavior.

"Hm?"

"Kiss me," she demanded.

"Not yet," he told her as he pulled away completely and looked at her, reaching up with one hand and brushing her hair back from her face as he gazed at her with a loving smile on his face.

"I'm sorry," he finally said as he traced her bottom lip his his thumb.

"What for?" she wondered, dread creating a knot in her stomach.

"I know I've been kind of distant lately, that I haven't been as amorous as I was before. After what happened between us and the way Veronica lectured us both, I guess I sort of pulled away more than was really necessary. I'm sorry if I caused you to worry at all. You know I love you, and I still want you just as much now as I did before. I guess it took you showing up here when my guard was down to remind me of that."

Avery smiled and let out a soft, relieved sigh as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, nodding in response to his words. "You're right... I _was_ worried. I sort of figured that was why you were acting weird, though, so I didn't want to say anything about it because I didn't want you to think I was unhappy."

"But you _were_ unhappy."

"A little." She shrugged and pulled him down into a brief kiss. "But, in my heart, I knew you loved me and that's all that mattered. I was really starting to get pretty damn frustrated, though, if you know what I mean."

Klaus chuckled and kissed her again, teasing her with his tongue before pulling away. "I understand, and I will do whatever I can to help ease your frustration, love... So long as our clothes stay on, okay?"

Avery nodded. "Just keep kissing me the way you used to before, and I'll be happy."

"I think I can handle that," he told her, his voice low and husky, then roughly claimed her lips.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

Avery frowned at the bottle in her hands. It was simple, yet elegant – crafted from blue glass – but it still lacked any real sense of personality. The label was nothing more than a piece of wide masking tape she'd slapped across the surface in order to write the date upon, and it completely ruined the appearance she had been hoping to go for with her brand.

"Something wrong?" Klaus asked, slipping his arms around her waist as he stood behind her, resting his chin upon her shoulder to look at whatever she seemed to be upset over.

"I have no idea how to go about marketing this," she told him, holding up the wine bottle. "I don't have a design for a label... I don't even have a suitable _name_ figured out, yet."

"Aren't most wines named for the vineyard where they're produced?" he wondered, reaching up to take the bottle from her and examining it himself.

"Yeah, but somehow I don't think people are going to be clamoring for Little Farm Wine," Avery remarked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the dining table.

Klaus smiled a little. "The taste will speak for itself, love."

"You _do_ know that studies have proven that people think things like wine taste better if they believe it's more expensive, right? No one in the city is ever going to buy something with a quaint little country name like that."

"We'll think of something," he assured her, setting the bottle down on the table and pulling her into his arms. "As for designing the labels, why don't you ask your mother for help with that? She's an artist, after all, and her name being connected to your brand is sure to bring attention to it."

"I suppose I could do that," Avery reluctantly agreed, still sounding frustrated. Klaus made a thoughtful sound as he released her and grabbed the bottle off the table, then headed in the direction of the kitchen.

"Where do you keep your wineglasses?" he asked as he began searching through the cabinets.

"Over the stove," she directed him, "but why? We're not going to _drink_ that, are we?"

"Why not?" Klaus asked as he looked at her over his shoulder while pulling down a couple of glasses and setting them between the burners on her stove. "You're stressed right now, and there's nothing I can think of that would be better for combating that stress than a couple of glasses of wine and a massage."

"It hasn't aged long enough," she protested, going to stand by him and grabbing the bottle away from him. Klaus leaned over and kissed her, gently prying it back out of her grip, then uncorked it before she could make any further arguments.

"It'll be fine," he assured her. "Sometimes young wines are better than aged ones."

"But..." She sighed in defeat as he poured each of them a glass and handed one to her, then allowed him to take her by the hand and lead her over to the sofa. They sat together, facing one another, and Klaus watched her expectantly. Sighing once more, she took a drink of the wine and paused to consider the flavor.

"How is it?" he asked, drinking from his own glass.

"Sweet," Avery remarked before taking another drink. "It's not exactly... conventional, but I do like it."

"I think the flavor of the peaches really comes through," Klaus commented, reaching out to take her hand in his. "Perhaps you might want to consider marketing this particular wine as a milder variety for those who don't like the more aggressive flavors of aged wines?"

"You're right," Avery said as she sat her wineglass down on the end table behind her. She then laid her head back against the couch and closed her eyes, yet another frustrated sigh escaping her lips.

"What's wrong, love?" Klaus asked her, gently caressing the palm of her hand with his thumb.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Klaus," she told him. "I started this whole winery business without a clue as to how to actually _run_ a winery."

"You'll learn."

"No, I should have learned _before_ I ever got started. I should have gone to study under some master vintner somewhere for a few years instead of impulsively just coming out here to chase after a stupid dream."

Klaus leaned over to reach around her so he could set his wineglass next to hers, then brushed his hand back through her hair and kissed her on the forehead.

"Hey... Look at me," he requested. Avery shook her head and kept her eyes closed, and he gently kissed each of her eyelids, followed by her cheeks, then finally placed his lips upon hers and coaxed her into a slow, sensual kiss as he threaded his fingers through hers. When she finally opened her eyes, he saw the remnants of tears in them but was glad to find that there were none threatening to fall.

"Your dream is _not_ stupid," he told her, caressing her cheek with his free hand. "You maybe rushed into things a bit, sure... but you still have plenty of time to hone your skills. Besides, if you _had_ studied under a master vintner, they would have taught you to age that wine so much that you would have lost the sweetness of the peaches that it has right now. And I, for one, love your peaches."

Avery laughed a little, smiling slightly at him. "You're still talking about fruit, right?"

"For the time being," Klaus replied with a half-shrug and a smirk, kissing her softly once more.

"My point is," he continued after settling back to gaze into her eyes once more, "have faith in yourself. Start small. Keep things local, at first, perhaps by setting up a stand at the trade depot like you were talking about doing before. Don't try to rush into being some big name in the wine business right away. It'll happen, in time. I know it will, because I believe in you."

Avery's eyes suddenly filled with tears and she threw her arms around him, pulling him close and hugging him tightly as she began to cry against his shoulder. Klaus blinked in confusion, then slid his own arms around her waist and held her, rubbing her back slowly.

"I love you," she finally managed to say, her voice wavering. She pulled back and wiped at her eyes, an embarrassed smile curving her lips upward slightly, and Klaus smiled back at her as he gently brushed away the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs before leaning close to kiss her.

"I love you, too," he whispered against her lips. "Now, how about that massage I promised?"

Avery laughed a little and turned away from him on the couch, picking up her glass of wine as he settled behind her and began gently kneading the muscles in her lower back.

"I thought we were taking things slow," she remarked, and Klaus could clearly hear the smirk in her voice.

"We are," he replied, placing extra pressure on a particularly knotted spot he found in order to work it out. "As you very well have noticed, we are still both fully dressed."

Avery let out a soft moan as his hands continued up her back, stopping every few centimeters. "Yes, but... the wine... the massage... it could all lead to something."

"It won't lead anywhere you don't wish for it to go, love," he assured her, pushing her hair aside and over the front of her shoulder in order to gain access to the back of her neck. Avery's head fell forward momentarily as his fingers worked their magic on the tired muscles of her neck and shoulders, but she soon leaned back against him, her head resting upon his shoulder as she gazed at him with half-lidded eyes.

"And what if I _want_ it to lead somewhere?" she posed the question in a soft, breathy voice, and Klaus slid his arms around her and pulled her back closer to him. One of his hands rested upon her abdomen, while the other brushed against her breasts as he reached up to cup her face with his hand in order to guide her lips to his.

"In that case, I would be very tempted," he informed her, brushing his lips against hers briefly before releasing her from his grasp. He leaned forward, pressing his chest fully against her back as he reached for his wineglass, then shifted away from her to sit at the other end of the couch, smirking when she gave him a look of disbelief over her shoulder.

"And you call _me_ an evil tease?" she huffed indignantly as she turned toward him on the couch, bringing up her wineglass to take another drink. Klaus took another hearty swallow of his own wine and then inched his way closer to her once more, his grin turning a bit more devilish.

"You know, I do believe there's one thing that could be done to improve vastly upon this wine," he mused, taking her glass from her and placing it back upon the table. She gave him a quizzical look, and he merely smiled at her and took a drink of his wine, then leaned over and kissed her. Avery gasped in surprise when she got a mouthful of wine and began coughing as it went down her windpipe, causing it to dribble all down her chest and make a mess.

"Next time... warn me... when you're about to do something like that," she told him through her coughs and Klaus hid his amused smile behind his hand. Once she stopped coughing, he placed his hand at the back of her head and pulled her closer once more, kissing her deeply and relishing the faint remnants of the sweet wine within her mouth with his tongue.

"I should get cleaned up," Avery said in a breathless whisper once he finally pulled away, but Klaus shook his head.

"Allow me," he insisted, his voice just as quiet as hers, then kissed her at the corner of her mouth.

He slowly followed the trail the wine had made as it spilled from her lips, leaving a line of wet kisses down the side of her neck in his wake. Avery shivered as he sucked upon the spot just above her collar bone and reached up to thread her fingers into his hair, then gasped when she felt him pour more wine from his glass over her cleavage.

"Klaus!" she shrieked, making him chuckle deep in his throat as he continued pressing kisses to her neck before moving down to where the swell of her breasts were peeking out of her dress.

"I did tell you I loved your peaches, did I not?" he reminded her, sliding his hand down to squeeze one of her breasts as he bathed her with his tongue, cleaning up the mess he had intentionally made.

"I'm not entirely sure whether I find this arousing or strange," Avery remarked, and Klaus placed one last kiss right between her breasts before finally looking up at her with a lazy smile.

"Perhaps I've been a bit too bold, this time," he said, sitting up and catching her lips with his for a brief kiss. "Though, if you'd let me, I would gladly drink this wine from all over your beautiful body."

She pulled him to her for another kiss, biting his bottom lip a bit harder than usual in retribution for the mess he'd made of her clothes with his wine-spilling, and Klaus hastily set down his glass on the end table in order to scoop her up into his arms and change their positions so that he was seated upon the couch with her in his lap, straddling him. She continued kissing him, teasing him by tangling her tongue with his before pulling away, her hands running down over his shoulders and chest and grasping him roughly by his cravat.

"You ruined my dress, Klaus," she admonished him, using the golden silk tie to tug him closer.

"It'll wash out," he assured her, attempting to capture her lips but being unable to do so before she leaned back once more.

"I was going to wear this dress to the Fireworks Show tonight," she informed him, pouting. Klaus reached up and tangled one of his hands into her hair, attempting to complete the contact of his lips to hers, but she once more evaded him, leaning to the side at the last minute and instead pressing a kiss to the side of his neck.

"Why don't you, ah..." he gasped as she began to nibble and suck upon the spot just below his ear, causing him to practically melt into her couch. "Why not wear that dress you wore on our first date?"

Avery immediately sat up at the suggestion, shaking her head.

"Don't you think it's a bit too revealing?" she wondered, and Klaus blinked at her sudden shift in attitude and pulled himself back up into an upright position, making sure to support her with his hands behind her back so she didn't fall out of his lap.

"You had no problem with wearing it before," he remarked.

"I didn't _choose_ to wear it, it was chosen _for_ me," she reminded him. "Besides, women dress like that all the time in the city. Around here they're more... conservative."

"I can't argue with that," Klaus said with a small smile. "Just wear whatever you'll feel comfortable in, love. I _do_ like that dress, but I'm happy with you in whatever you like."

Avery nodded and leaned in to kiss him again, then groaned loudly when someone began knocking on her front door. She kissed him anyway, hoping whoever it was would just leave, but when the knock sounded again she got up and made her way over to the bed to retrieve her robe.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Klaus wondered, picking up his wineglass and finish the last of its contents.

"Sure, I'm going to answer the door covered in wine," Avery replied sarcastically, putting on her robe and tying it closed over her stained dress. "I swear, everyone in this town must have some sort of sixth sense that drives them to interrupt others when they're in the middle of any sort of intimate moment."

Klaus chuckled and got up from the sofa to wander back into her kitchen where he'd left the wine bottle, and Avery went to the door and answered it, blinking in surprise when she found Veronica standing there.

"Hello, Avery," the guildmaster greeted her. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you've seen Klaus today?"

"What can I do for you, Veronica?" Klaus asked as he came up behind Avery, having abandoned the wine, and wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her back against him. Veronica cleared her throat a bit, lowering her gaze and blushing, and Avery jabbed an elbow back into Klaus' stomach when she realized what the situation must have looked like to the guildmaster.

"I, um..." Veronica paused, clearing her throat once more. "I still need your donation for the fireworks festival, Klaus."

"Dammit, I knew I forgot to do something this morning," Klaus grumbled, releasing Avery. "I'm sorry, Veronica. I'll get that for you."

"Thank you," Veronica said with a nod, then turned and took a few steps away from the door, pretending to examine Avery's fields as she waited.

"I'm so sorry, love," Klaus told Avery, kissing her briefly. "I really need to go take care of this and then get some more work done before tonight."

"It's okay," Avery assured him, shaking her head and giving him a small smile. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Of course," he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her once more lingering for a moment with his forehead pressed against hers. "Meet me at the trade depot around eight o'clock?"

"I will."

Klaus reluctantly released her and Avery watched him leave the farm with Veronica, nervously biting her lip as she hoped the older woman didn't spend their entire walk back to town lecturing him again about their sex life.

 

* * *

 

Eight o'clock came and went, and Avery found herself standing alone at the entrance of the trade depot as she waited for Klaus. She'd arrived ten minutes early and already had to endure disapproving looks from Veronica and Margot, appreciative looks from Otmar and Jonas, and several suggestive comments from Raeger, Marian, _and_ Giorgio.

She had decided to go along with Klaus' suggestion and wore the same outfit she'd had on for their first date, though due to the warm summer weather she'd left the shawl at home. Even though she had wanted to be confident in her wardrobe choice, the combination of the reactions of the townspeople to her chosen attire along with Klaus' tardiness made her feel increasingly insecure as each minute ticked by. She looked back over her shoulder to take stock of who had already arrived, and found that most of the residents of Oak Tree Town were already milling about and socializing.

"Still no sign of Klaus?"

Avery turned to Raeger and found him looking very unlike himself, wearing a concerned frown rather than his usual cocky smirk.

"What time is it?" she asked him, nervously wringing her hands as he checked his pocket watch.

"Just after eight thirty," Raeger told her, and she looked back out toward town once more. "Veronica said she wants to get started soon, since everyone's already here."

"Everyone _isn't_ here!" Avery retorted, turning back to face him.

"Want me to go let her know we're still waiting on Klaus?" he offered, hooking a thumb back over his shoulder toward where the guildmaster was chatting with some of the older town residents.

"And Iris," Avery added, shaking her head. "She's not here yet, either."

"You don't think..." Raeger immediately regretted the comment at soon as it began leaving his mouth, and he quickly attempted to laugh it off with a shake of his head. "Nah. I'm just messing with you. Klaus wouldn't screw around with Iris. Not when he's got a hot babe like you."

He winked at her, but the damage had already been done. He had voiced the very fears that had been starting to nag at Avery since she realized Iris and Klaus were the only two people who hadn't yet arrived. Even Mistel had already been there for at least fifteen minutes, chatting with Elise as far away from everyone else as possible. She began worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut against the tears which were threatening to fall, balling her hands into fists at her sides.

"Shit."

Avery looked up at Raeger and found him staring off in the direction she'd been looking for better than half an hour, his mouth hanging open slightly in disbelief. She began to turn to see what he was looking at and her grabbed her by the shoulders in an attempt to prevent her from doing so, but she shrugged him off and turned to witness the very thing she had been dreading seeing: Klaus was walking toward the trade depot, but he wasn't alone – he was arm-in-arm with Iris, talking and laughing with her.

"It doesn't mean anything," Raeger told her in a soothing voice, placing a hand on her shoulder. "They could have just run into each other on the way here."

"Avery!" Iris called upon spotting her, waving as they made their way over to where she and Raeger were standing. "You need to start taking better care of your man, sweetie."

"Excuse me?" Avery said quietly, still in shock over what was going on right before her eyes.

"Well, it's a good thing I stopped by to see if he wanted to walk me here like he usually does, because the poor thing was passed out fast asleep on his work station," Iris informed her, turning to give Klaus a cheeky smirk. Avery looked over at Klaus and found him blushing, his hair a bit messier than usual on one side.

"I'm sorry, love," he apologized, pulling his arm from Iris' grip and stepping closer to her. "I know I'm late. I only meant to rest my eyes for a moment, and the next thing I knew Iris was banging on my door practically screaming bloody murder."

"I was not!" Iris stated with an indignant look, slapping him across the back. She then gave Avery a wink. "Anyway, you two enjoy the show."

Avery watched her walk away to join the others, and she felt Raeger give her shoulder another squeeze. She turned to look up at him, and he smiled at her.

"You're gonna be okay now, right?" he asked her, and she nodded. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, then gave Klaus a short wave before disappearing somewhere within the crowd, as well.

"I really am sorry, Avery."

Avery didn't say anything. She simply closed the remainder of the distance between them and threw herself against his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Klaus stumbled backward a step, then let out a light chuckle and returned her embrace, kissing the top of her head.

"I was starting to worry," she told him after a moment, snuggling against him.

"I know," Klaus said, running his fingers through her hair until she finally looked up at him. "I'm sorry. Tell me whatever I can do to make it up to you, and I'll do it."

"Just tell me you love me," she requested, and Klaus smiled and kissed her briefly.

"I love you, Avery," he whispered, his eyes locked with hers. "More than anything in this world, for as long as I shall live, I love you."

"And I love you, Klaus."

Klaus smiled and kissed her again, his hands resting upon her lower back and pulling her body flush against his. Avery almost pulled away to remind him of the others nearby, but when one of his hands found its way to her backside and gave it a gentle squeeze she realized he didn't care who saw them. She opened her mouth to him and he took the kiss a bit deeper, giving a contented sigh as their tongue slowly mingled, and Avery suddenly felt very foolish that she ever could have believed – even for a moment – that Klaus would cheat on her. His words, his touches, his kisses... there was always so much love and sincerity in everything he did and said to her that she knew she truly meant as much to him as he said she did.

The first of the fireworks went off above them, and Klaus pulled away and looked up at the before gazing down upon her once more and smiling. He raised one of his arms up to wrap around her shoulders and carefully turned her around in his arms, holding her back against his chest so that she could watch the colorful explosions in the sky, as well.

"You wore the dress," he commented after a moment, playing with one of the thin straps on her shoulder.

"I did," she said with a small nod, then rested her head back against his shoulder with a soft sigh.

Klaus leaned down and kissed her neck as he continued playing with the strap of her dress, inching it slowly off her shoulder and down her arm as he trailed his kisses over to where it once had been. Avery gasped as she felt her bodice start to slide dangerously low on one side, and quickly brought up a hand to hold the dress in place in order to avoid exposing one of her breasts in public.

"Klaus, what are you doing?" she asked him in a harsh whisper, turning her head to look at him.

"I thought maybe we could make a few of our own fireworks during the show."

"Everyone in town is right over there!" she reminded him, gesturing toward the gathering of townspeople at the center of the trade depot. They were all gazing up at the sky, watching the fireworks, but she knew at any moment any one of them could turn in their direction and catch them in the act of... wherever Klaus had intended for things to go.

"You're right," he agreed with a small frown, standing back up to his full height. Avery let out a sigh of relief and pulled her strap back up into place.

"We need someplace a bit more private," he added with a seductive little smile, taking her by the hand and gently pulling her along with him in the direction of the stall where Jonas worked as the town's Director of Trade. It was past business hours, and so the stall was closed up and would provide a solid barrier between the residents of Oak Tree Town and whatever shenanigans Klaus had in mind for them.

"Fine, but as soon as the fireworks are done, we stop, okay?" Avery agreed, feigning reluctance to go along with his plan even though she was giggling like a schoolgirl. Klaus merely stopped mid-stride and pulled her toward him, capturing the surprised squeak she let out when her body collided with his in his mouth as he kissed her. He continued backing up behind the stall as he kissed her, pushing both of her straps down off her shoulders, and Avery pulled him toward her to make him stop when she heard a giggle that hadn't come from her own mouth.

"What's wrong?" he asked her breathlessly as he looked at her, and Avery leaned to the side to peek around him in the direction the noise had come from. Klaus turned his head to look, as well, and both of them let out a short laugh of surprise.

"Raeger!?"

The chef's head whipped around at the sound of Avery calling his name, and he went paler than a freshly-bleached sheet. His hair was a mess, his tie and vest discarded upon the ground, and his shirt was hanging halfway off.

"Hey, uh... What are you two doing here?" he asked as he turned to them, pulling his shirt back up onto his shoulders. He kept his back to his female companion, attempting to shield her from them as she fixed her own clothes.

"It would seem I had the same I idea you did," Klaus remarked with a knowing smile, craning his neck to attempt to get a look at the girl behind him. "Are you okay back there, Lillie?"

The brunette peeked out from behind Raeger's shoulder and nodded, her face burning red in embarrassment, and Avery had to hide her face against Klaus' arm to keep from bursting into laughter at the situation. Lillie... sweet, innocent, good girl Lillie... had just been caught going at it with the biggest playboy in town – rather hot and heavy, too, by the looks of things. In a way, it reminded her of how her mother had caught her and Klaus together on their first date.

"Look, _please_ don't tell anyone about this," Raeger begged them. "We haven't exactly told anyone that we're dating, and we don't want her dad to find out. Not yet, anyway."

"We won't say anything," Avery assured him, swallowing back the smirk that was threatening to surface on her face and attempting to keep her expression as serious as possible as she nodded at him. "You have our word."

"You might want to make sure you do up your fly before the two of you head back to the others, though," Klaus pointed out, and Avery finally lost it and started laughing hysterically at the situation. He reached up and placed a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound so that the others wouldn't come looking for whatever was going on, then gave Raeger a small salute and led her back out from behind the stall and away from the trade depot.

"Where are we going?" she asked once he finally removed his hand from her mouth and instead placed it at her waist as they walked side-by-side together through the quiet, empty town.

"Your place," he told her with a smile. "I'm in the mood for some more wine."


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty**

Avery sat quietly at the counter in Raeger's restaurant, stirring the ice cream in her dish into a soupy mess. Occasionally, she'd look over at him and bite her lip to keep from smirking before returning her attention to the slop in her bowl. The once bright yellow ice cream had turned into a brownish-grey mess with tiny, colorful specks and larger yellow chunks throughout. In a way, she felt like it was reflective of the current state of her love life with Klaus. There were still a lot of sweet little moments and they had made some larger, more pronounced memories, but for the time being she felt like things were murky. Ever since that day he'd gone off to the city unexpectedly, she'd still had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that he was keeping something from her. She wanted to believe that Raeger was right and it was nothing to be worried about at all, but she still had a somewhat irrational fear that she could never be the kind of woman Klaus truly wanted.

It sounded silly, even in her own mind, but she knew that if he'd just take her to bed a lot of that anxiety would be gone. After all, she hadn't really experienced much disquiet concerning their relationship until she had learned about his extensive past with women. Klaus had assured her that she was the only one he wanted, but she still worried that her inexperience would hinder her ability to please him as much as he'd already done for her – and how much more she knew he would once they finally did start sleeping together. He wanted to wait until the time felt right, and she fully agreed that they shouldn't rush into things until they were both truly ready to take that step, but a part of her needed to know that she could be everything he needed... both in bed, as well as out of it.

"You gonna eat that or not?"

Avery looked up at Raeger, who was standing in front of her with his hands resting on the counter, looking from her to what had once been a perfectly-built sundae and back again. She sighed and pushed the bowl toward him, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. I'm not the biggest fan of pineapple."

"Neither am I, to be honest," Raeger told her, smiling at her in a way that let her know he wasn't the least bit insulted that she had barely eaten any of his latest creation. "I just figured it would be a good flavor for summer."

"Try mango," she suggested as he picked up the bowl to take it to the sink. "And add in some strawberries. They go quite well together."

"Maybe you should use that combination for one of your wines," he mused, washing out the bowl and setting it aside before walking back over to stand in front of her once more. "The samples you gave me were quite a hit, by the way."

"Really?" Avery asked, blinking in surprise.

"Yeah," Raeger said, chuckling at her shocked expression. "Those bottles you gave me didn't even last two days."

"Maybe Klaus really is onto something with that idea of his."

"What idea is that?"

"He suggested not aging some of the wines as much, so that they remain less tannic and retain more of the flavors of their source."

"That's not a bad idea," Raeger agreed. "Aged wines are more of an acquired taste, and in my experience women generally prefer lighter, fruity drinks to strong ones."

Avery gave him a slightly disapproving look. "Are you hoping to use my wines to lure women into complacency so that you can have your evil way with them?"

Raeger laughed. "In case you didn't notice last week, Avery, I really don't need wine for that." He winked at her, and she finally let the smirk she'd been holding back make its was across her lips.

"Speaking of... Since when were you and Lillie dating?"

She said it just loud enough that Cam – the only other patron in the establishment – would be able to hear her, and a glance over at his table confirmed that the statement hadn't slipped past him.

"So you finally asked her out, did you?" he questioned Raeger, wiping his mouth with a napkin and standing from his seat. Raeger groaned as he gathered up his meal and made his way toward them in order to sit at the counter, turning his narrowed blue eyes to Avery.

"Thanks. I asked you not to go telling people about it, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but it's not like I told _Marian_ ," she pointed out. "Besides, with what happened before with Lillie and Cam, I figured he has a right to know how things turned out."

Cam grinned at Avery as he settled down on the stool next to hers and resumed eating his salad. She returned his smile and then looked to Raeger once more, batting her eyelashes innocently at him while he glared at her. After a moment, he sighed in defeat and took a step away from them to lean back against the prep station, folding his arms over his chest.

"Technically, we started dating the day after White Day, but I asked her out _on_ White Day... sort of."

"Sort of?" Cam wondered.

"I... wrote her a letter and hid it in the box of madelines I gave her," Raeger admitted, his voice unusually quiet as a blush began coloring his cheeks.

"What did the letter say?" Avery asked him, and Raeger shook his head.

"It's not important."

"I'll hazard a guess," Cam offered, turning toward her. "He apologized for the way things turned out with me and for the way he was acting, told her he had been jealous of the attention she'd be paying to me, and admitted he liked her in a romantic way. Am I right?"

They both looked to Raeger, and he stared at the floor as his face turned the same shade of red as the apron he always wore while working. Avery smiled at him, resting her chin in her hand as she called his name in an overly-sweet manner, then waited for him to finally look her way before speaking.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Raeger. It's good that you're getting in touch with your feelings, rather than just touching and feeling like you two were at the Fireworks Show."

Cam smirked. "So _that_ was where they disappeared off to?"

"You noticed?" Raeger asked him, eyes wide in horror.

The other man nodded. "Of course I was looking, too. I'd seen you two talking a few times in town recently, and I had my suspicions that you were together, so... knowing your reputation, it wasn't hard to imagine you dragging her off somewhere for a bit of making out during the show."

"They were doing more than simply 'making out,' from what I could tell," Avery informed him, and Cam chuckled as he took a sip of his tea. Raeger simply continued to look horrified.

"If you figured it out, then..." He closed his eyes and let out a weary sigh. "Lillie's dad _must_ know. But why hasn't he said anything to me about it?"

"Maybe he doesn't feel like he needs to?" Avery suggested. "Lillie is a grown woman, after all. She's old enough to make her decisions."

"He basically threatened to kill me if I laid a hand on her, Avery," Raeger informed her.

"I'm sure those weren't his exact words."

"No, but I could easily read between the lines there. What he actually said was that he knows the kind of guy I am and he doesn't want me to hurt her."

"But are you really still that same man?" Cam wondered. "Or have you changed."

"I... don't know," Raeger admitted, sighing in defeat. "I really, really like Lillie. Hell, I might even be falling in love with her... but I also still _really_ like sex, and whenever some other girl walks up to me and practically throws herself at me I can't help feeling tempted."

"Have you ever _acted_ upon said temptation?" Avery asked, a note of fear in her voice. Cam looked over at her, a single eyebrow raised in curiosity, but said nothing.

Raeger shook his head. "Believe me, I _wanted_ to. I don't want to screw things up with Lillie, though. And yet, I'm still scared shitless that just _having_ to force myself to push them away means I haven't actually changed at all."

Avery nodded, her shoulders slumping a bit, and Cam finally spoke up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, directing the question toward her.

"She's worried because Klaus basically used to be me when he was younger, and hearing me talk like this has her wondering if he might be having the same sort of internal conflict," Raeger offered. "Am I right?"

"I'm being incredibly stupid, I know," Avery said, shaking her head. "Klaus loves me. I know he does. But things have been... strange, lately."

"Strange how?" Cam wondered, turning more fully toward her in his seat.

"Even before we officially started dating, we used to meet at his place every Tuesday and Thursday just to have coffee together and talk. Once we became a couple, we started doing other things, too – like going on picnics or just walking up the mountain trails and back – but it has still always been every Tuesday and Thursday. Earlier this season, he went into the city on a Tuesday, completely unannounced. If I hadn't run into him at the clinic, he probably wouldn't have even told me he was going."

"Could have just been some sort of emergency situation and it slipped his mind to tell you," Cam reasoned with a slight shrug.

"And then there's what happened after the Fireworks Show," Avery added.

"What _did_ happen after the Fireworks Show?" Raeger asked, giving her the best suggestive smile he could muster, given the situation. "Veronica was looking for him at the end so she could thank him again for his donation, but the two of you had already split."

"Nothing happened, which is partly my fault. I was so tired I ended up falling asleep and he left sometime after that. He did put me in bed first, though," she quickly added, as if to defend him.

"What happened before you fell asleep?" Cam asked.

"Well, things had been progressing toward something a bit... intimate, at the show," Avery told them, blushing as she looked over to Raeger, who chuckled a little as he remember what Klaus had said about the two of them apparently having had the same idea.

"And?" Cam prompted.

"When we were leaving, Klaus said he planned on drinking more wine at my place, which um..." she paused, biting her lip and blushing even more. "Earlier we'd done that and he'd gotten a bit... creative with it, so I thought he meant to continue where we had left off with that."

"Kinky," Raeger remarked, earning himself a silencing glare from Cam.

"But once we got back to my place," Avery continued without acknowledging his outburst, "everything felt different. I figured he'd be all over me once we were behind closed doors, but it was like the moment he crossed that threshold all the desire in him vanished."

"What, exactly, did he do?"

"We drank wine," Avery answered Cam's question. "There was some kissing, but it was mostly chaste, and we cuddled. Then I fell asleep and the next thing I knew I was waking up in my bed and Klaus was gone."

Cam made a thoughtful sound and folded his hands together in his lap as he sat back in his chair, smiling a bit.

"I think I know what the problem is."

"What is it?" Raeger asked before Avery could.

"He's afraid of intimacy. More specifically, he's afraid of being intimate with _you_."

"That's impossible," Avery argued, shaking her head. "We might not have had sex yet, but we've done... other things. Besides, he's got _a lot_ of experience. There's no reason he should be nervous."

"Are you a virgin?" Cam asked bluntly. Avery averted her eyes and nodded silently. "That's the problem, right there."

"You're saying he doesn't want to have sex with me because I'm a virgin?"

"No, I..." Cam sighed and leaned toward her, glancing over to Raeger, who was watching the entire conversation with a thoughtful look on his face.

"That came across wrong, and I apologize," he said as he turned to Avery once more. "I'm sure Klaus _does_ want to have sex with you, but because he loves you it's scaring him to death and the fact that you're a virgin is only making that worse."

"I don't get it," Avery said, shaking her head.

"Being a girl's first is a big fucking deal," Raeger interjected. "Most of them have their idea of what it's supposed to be like – and I'm sure you do, too. As a man, you either live up to those expectations, or you end up completely disappointing them and ruining their little fantasy... which leads to them inevitably regretting that it ever happened. And you can't undo that once it's been done."

"Spoken like a man who's been there," Cam remarked.

Raeger nodded, sighing. "More than once."

"Me, too. But, anyway, that's probably why Klaus keeps seemingly running from hot to cold on you, Avery. I'm sure he knows what _he_ wants, but he's still trying to figure out what _you_ want."

"I just want _him_!" Avery cried out in exasperation, tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't care if it's perfect. I just want to share something special with him that I've never done with anyone before because I love him more than anything and I need to know he loves me that much, too."

Both men were taken aback by her sudden outburst, and Cam gave Raeger a confused look. The chef sighed and went to stand in front of Avery at the counter, reaching out to stroke her hair.

"This isn't just about Klaus, is it?" he asked her in a soothing voice. "It's about Iris, too."

Avery looked up at him and nodded slightly, swallowing around the lump in her throat.

"I shouldn't have said what I did when you were waiting for him at the Fireworks Show," he told her. "I was being a smartass, and it looks like I've made you start to doubt Klaus."

"It's not just what you said," Avery assured him. "He's been spending more time with her, lately, or at least it seems that way. Half the time when I go to meet him at his place, he's leaving hers right as I get there."

"Maybe he's bitching at her about that book she obviously wrote about the two of you," Raeger suggested. "Or perhaps he's trying to convince her _not_ to write the sequel to it I hear her fans are clamoring for."

"Maybe," Avery acquiesced, closing her eyes and sighing. "I know I'm just being jealous and immature, but I can't help it. She's closer to his age, and judging by her books she's _obviously_ more experienced than I am. She's successful and gorgeous and... whenever I see them together I feel this tiny little pang in my heart because I can't help but think that they would make the perfect couple."

"If I might offer a relative outsider's observations on this situation?" Cam requested. Avery looked over to him and nodded after a moment. "I haven't quite been here half a year, yet, but it's been long enough for me to make some observations about people and their relationships with one another. I figured out Raeger definitely had a thing for Lillie after that little outburst he made when I admitted to being married. I knew Fritz had a thing for Agate the first time I saw him talking to her. I can tell you that Mistel is secretly in love with Elise and desperately trying to figure out a way to get her to notice him. Veronica and Maurice are secretly having an affair, and while it looks like Maurice is comfortable with the idea of them going public Veronica seems to be dragging her feet. Licor... Reina," he quickly corrected himself, "has a bit of a crush on Nadi – though that one I have an unfair advantage on because we've known each other since we were kids. The _very_ first thing I noticed, though, is that Klaus is desperately in love with you – _not_ Iris."

"How can you tell?" Avery wondered.

"He smiles in a certain way whenever he's talking about you. It's hard to describe, so don't even ask me to try. All I can really say is that it's different from other smiles, and I've only seen that kind of smile on people's faces when they're talking about the person they love. Raeger does it sometimes, too, when he's talking about Lillie."

Cam smirked and looked over at Raeger, who blushed and averted his gaze from both of them. Avery smiled at him and reached up to playfully shove his shoulder.

" _That_ , right there, is another way I know there's nothing more than friendship between Klaus and Iris."

"What right where?" Avery asked, turning back to Cam.

"The way you and Raeger are with each other, specifically the way you two _look_ at each other. It's the same way Klaus and Iris look at each other. There's warmth, yes, but it's just friendship."

"And how does he look at me?"

"Like you're the only woman in the world," Cam told her, smiling. "And he'd die for you in an instant if you so wished it. I've seen that look before, _a lot_. My brother-in-law – Lily's sister's husband – looks at his wife just like that all the time, and I'm sure I probably look at my wife like that, too. I know I certainly feel that way whenever I look at her."

"In short," Raeger said, "Klaus may be good friends with Iris, but he loves _you_. And _only_ you."

Avery looked back and forth between them, smiling a little.

"You're right. Both of you. I'm sorry for dragging you two into this. I guess I just needed to hear from someone _other_ than Klaus that he loves me."

"Feeling better now?" Cam asked her.

Avery nodded, her smile growing. "Yep. Much. Thank you."

"Any time," he said, tipping his hat to her with a grin. He then turned his attention toward Raeger. "Now how about we get to the bottom of your friend's worries, shall we?"

"Ooh! Yes! Let's!" Avery agreed, excitedly clapping her hands and turning to Raeger. He merely groaned and laid his head down on the counter in a vain attempt to hide, causing her and Cam to both laugh.

 

* * *

 

The tip of Mistel's tongue stuck out the side of his mouth as he concentrated on the task before him. Elise had pulled him aside before the start of the Fireworks Show to tell him about an old music box she had which was broken. She'd apparently already sent it out to several dealers, but none of them had been able to fix it for her. It was an important family heirloom, she said, and once belonged to her mother. Fixing it would mean a lot to her, she told him before asking if he'd be willing to take a crack at it.

Mistel had been all too eager to offer his help. For the better part of the past year, he'd been sending her fancy little trinkets as signs of his affection, but to no avail. All he had ever received in return were short little thank you notes written upon scented stationery. He'd kept every single one of them, and each time the scent of her perfume wore off of the most recent one he'd received he would scramble about his shop in search of something else he thought might suit her refined tastes.

He knew most of the other people in town disliked her. They saw her as cold and distant, and her fellow farmers ridiculed her behind her back for not really being a farmer but rather the manager of a group of highly-trained farming experts who then took credit for all their hard work. He couldn't argue with them on that point, though none of them truly understood _why_ she was the was she was or did the things she did. Only last year did he himself get a glimpse into the person Elise really was, as she was an intensely private person – another trait which many saw as a fault, due to her not being particularly keen on socializing with her fellow townspeople even at festivals.

It just so happened that he'd stopped by to deliver a vase she had purchased on the same day her father was paying her a visit. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, but his curiosity got the better of him and he what he overheard shocked him. Elise's father said nothing to praise her, and instead continuously praised her sister in a manner that any child would take as being a passive-aggressive way of belittling them. In response, Elise had attempted to get her father to acknowledge all she had accomplished, but he had ignored her. The desperation in her voice had touched Mistel, while the dismissive tone of her father's replies had hurt him. That was the day he'd decided to learn more about Elise in an attempt to befriend her.

He'd stopped her maids in town on a few occasions to ask about her family and learned that Elise was the second daughter to a wealthy noble family, and after her mother passed away her father focused solely upon the elder of his two daughters and threw all of his money and support behind making sure she was successful in life. Elise tried her hardest and did everything that was expected of her – and then some – but was still largely overlooked. She then spent most of her trust fund to purchase land and build her farm in Oak Tree Town, hoping that once she had proven herself a successful businesswoman in her own right her father would acknowledge her. Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case, and she turned bitter and resentful toward those who had successful relationships with family and friends.

From the members of her farming staff, he learned that she was jealous of the other farmers who had settled in Oak Tree Town. They had all taken upon the challenge of tending to their land themselves and – for the most part – succeeded. She even envied Fritz, who wasn't the best at farming but still had a positive attitude in spite of his failures. Most of all, though, she was jealous of Avery. They were relatively close in age, so she had hoped they could be friends... but then her competitive nature and tendency to act superior toward others had spoiled any chances she had of that. Then Madam Eda had passed on her farm to Avery and not her – which Elise saw as a personal slight, since she'd been there first and was arguably the most successful of all the younger generation of farmers – and she grew to hate the other young woman. That hate turned into melancholy, however, when she learned _why_ Eda had given the land to Avery.

Avery had a dream.

Mistel knew Elise would never admit it, but she had no true desire to run a farm, and he sincerely doubted she really knew what it was she wanted out of life. That, in itself, was the root of the jealousy she held toward all three of her rivals. Each of them had a dream, something they wanted to accomplish and were steadily working towards. Giorgio wanted to make the world more beautiful with his perfectly-cultivated flowers. Avery wanted to run her own winery, a reality which was slowly coming true. Fritz wanted to be the best farmer in the world, and while it was unlikely he would ever achieve that goal he still _had_ a goal in mind. Elise had none of that. She had drive, but nothing to strive toward aside from getting her father's attention.

"A person without a dream is just an empty vessel," Eda had told him when he asked her why she was helping him build an antiques shop in a town where no one was likely to ever purchase antiques. Mistel never fully understood that statement until he learned about Elise's hardships, and now he had a new dream of his own he was working toward: to help Elise find her own dream, and then to be at her side as they realized it together.

That was why he'd agreed to take on the project of the broken music box. If he could succeed where so many others before him had failed, surely she would have to notice him. Perhaps, just in case, he would ask her to join him for dinner when he presented it to her. First, though, he had to fix the damn thing. It had taken him the better part of a week, but he had finally found what was wrong with it – a spring had broken off inside and a tiny part of it had gotten lodged in the mechanism which turned the drum. He had dismantled the box as much as he dared to without risking permanently damaging it beyond all repair, but for the life of him he still couldn't get the stray piece dislodged.

With a frustrated sigh, he sat down his tools and glared at the music box. He had wanted to do this all on his own, so he could claim full credit for restoring her special treasure to working order, but it was all too clear to him that what he really needed was a second pair of hands to assist him with the extraction of the broken spring. Reluctantly, he pushed his chair back from the desk and made his way toward the stairs to retrieve his sister. Her hands were small, like his, so they wouldn't get in the way and hinder his ability to see what he was doing – plus, he knew she would let him keep all the credit to himself if he asked.

"I hate doing this, Iris. All the sneaking around... I'm essentially lying to her, you know."

Mistel stopped halfway up the stairs when he heard Klaus' voice. He didn't know the perfumer was visiting, though he should have guessed he would be. He'd been coming by more often the past few weeks, always to see his sister, and the two of them always ended up disappearing upstairs to the living quarters not long after his arrival.

"Are you going to tell her?" his sister asked, sounding concerned.

"Of course not," Klaus replied, and Mistel heard him let out a heavy sigh before continuing. "I promised you I would keep this between us, and I am a man of my word. I won't say anything to her or anyone else until you're ready."

Mistel quietly made his way back down the stairs, not wanting to hear any more of their conversation. Quite frankly, he was shocked at what he _had_ heard. His sister and Klaus? When had _that_ happened? And what about Avery? Klaus seemed to be so deeply in love with her. How could he be betraying her like this?

A part of him wanted to run out of the shop, track Avery down, and tell her everything he'd just heard. She had a right to know, after all. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd misinterpreted what they said. He'd only heard a few lines of their conversation, after all, so maybe they weren't even really having an affair. Perhaps Klaus was helping her with her next book but they wanted to keep it a secret until closer to the release date, or at least until they finished the manuscript.

Yes, he decided, nodding to himself. That had to be it! His sister was a bit of a troublemaker at times, but there was no way she'd ever steal away another woman's man.

"Mistel, how have you been?"

He looked up and forced a smile as Klaus walked over to him from the bottom of the stairs.

"Good, Klaus. Thanks for asking. And you?"

"Never been better," the older man replied, grinning.

"And how's Avery?" Mistel asked as he made his way to the door, hoping he didn't sound too suspicious.

Klaus chuckled, running a hand back through his hair. "Lovely, as always. It was good seeing you."

Mistel bade him goodbye and closed the door to the shop behind him, his breath catching in his throat. Klaus hadn't been wearing his usual cravat. Of course, he hadn't been there when he arrived, so perhaps he'd simply chosen not to wear it for some reason or another. He _had_ to know, though.

Acting as casually as possible, he made his way upstairs. Iris smiled at him when he walked into the open sitting area they'd set up, and he felt his heart start to sink a little when he saw that she was straightening up the covers on her bed.

"What's wrong?" she asked, fluffing the pillows before turning fully toward him.

"I, um... I was just hoping you might be able to help me with that music box Elise asked me to fix," he requested, noticing that her makeup had been reapplied recently.

"Of course!" she agreed, going over to him and kissing him on the cheek and flashing another cheerful smile at him. "Anything to help my baby brother win the heart of the girl he loves."

Mistel smiled back at her as best he could, knowing that she would assume his unease was due to the nervousness he felt regarding Elise. She made her way down the stairs and he began to follow her, but stopped short as his eyes fell upon the final, most damning piece of evidence in their small apartment.

An all-too-familiar piece of golden silk was lying on the floor next to the sofa.


	22. Chapter Twenty-One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another mammoth chapter here, which again is NSFW toward the end. However, I encourage everyone to at least read up to the point where events start to take that turn, because there's a rather important event which happens in the beginning portion and you will all finally get the answer to the question, "Where the hell was Klaus going that one Tuesday?"

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Avery stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror next to her closet, turning from side to side as she attempted to get an idea of what she looked like from the back in her new dress. It had been a gift from her parents for her birthday, and within the box containing it she'd found a note from her father which read, ' _Have fun tonight!_ '

The dress itself was simple, yet elegant, made from a light-weight fabric the color of fresh summer peaches with a sheer overlay covered in a print of large, red-and-coral-colored flowers. The sheer fabric was gathered a bit at the top, creating a sort of ruffle that rested just at the top of her cleavage, and as she continued turning from side to side she started to notice a shimmer to the fabric wherever the light caught it as she moved. The one thing she wasn't entirely sure about – aside from the color, since she knew blue was Klaus' favorite – was the way the skirt of the dress had been made. It was short in the front, the hem resting just above her knees, but tapered lower toward the back to mid-calf length. The dress did look good on her, though, and showed off her well-toned legs.

She finally turned away from the mirror with a sigh just as she heard a knock upon her door, and she looked back one more time to check her hair and makeup before going to answer it.

"Hi," she said to Klaus with a shy smile, stepping aside and holding the door open for him. She could practically feel his gaze traveling over the length of her body as he stepped past her, and before she even had the door closed his arm was around her waist and he was pulling her against his own body with a loving smile.

"You look beautiful," he told her, reaching up with his other hand to run his fingers through her hair. "I like this, too."

Avery blushed. On a whim, she'd braided her hair while it was still wet that morning after bathing and left it in all day. By the time she took the braid out while she was getting ready for their date, her hair had dried and the result was soft waves which fell about her shoulders and framed her face. She knew that within a few short hours her hair would be back to its normal, stick-straight appearance, but she had wanted to do something a little special with her look for a change.

"So what are we doing tonight?" she asked, reaching up to run her hands over his chest. Klaus merely grinned at her and released her from his grasp, then began slowly removing his cravat.

"Klaus?" Avery said his name with a note of trepidation in her voice.

"Do you trust me, Avery?" he asked her in reply, sliding the long piece of golden silk off from around his neck.

"Yes," she said in a breathless whisper, nodding.

Klaus continued to hold his cravat in one hand and grasped her gently by the shoulders, then turned her around so her back was to him. He leaned down and kissed her shoulder on either side of the left strap of her dress, then lifted the piece of silken cloth in his hands and carefully tied it over her eyes as a makeshift blindfold.

"Klaus, why are you blindfolding me?" Avery wondered, reaching up to adjust the cloth so it sat a bit more comfortably over her eyes.

Klaus chuckled softly as he nuzzled her ear. "Don't worry, love, it's nothing sexual... _this_ time." He paused at the slight hitching of her breath and gently nipped at her earlobe before he continued to speak quietly to her. "I just want where we're going to be a surprise, that's all."

Avery nodded and Klaus took her hands in his and carefully led her out of her house, then closed the door before placing his hands upon her shoulders and guiding her to their destination. Avery listened carefully to her surroundings as they walked, though she was a bit distracted by the way Klaus' hands kept softly stroking her upper arms as they walked. Occasionally, he would ask her to stop before pulling away from her, and she would hear him toss some sort of debris aside – likely in order to prevent her from tripping over it. He would then give her a quick kiss on one of her shoulders as he took his place behind her once more and resumed guiding her along their path.

"There's a few steps here, love," he instructed at one point, after they had been walking for a while, and he moved to stand in front of her and took both of her hands in his as he had when he was guiding her out of her house. He informed her to step down from each one, then let her know once she was finally on level ground again, but didn't take his previous position behind her and instead continued to lead her toward him.

"Just a little bit farther," he told her, and though Avery couldn't see him she could hear the excited smile in his voice. She laughed a little, picturing an older, more mature version of Fritz – who was always wearing a similar expression.

"Here we are," he finally said as they came to a stop, and before she had a chance to say anything he pulled the makeshift blindfold up and off. Avery blinked a few times in disbelief, then looked at him, confused.

"This is your house," she said, pointing at the building in front of them.

"I know," Klaus told her, taking one of her hands and leading her up the front steps. "The surprise is what's _inside_ the house."

He opened the door and let her precede him inside, and she gasped softly when her eyes fell upon the scene before her. The room was illuminated only by the soft glow of candlelight, the table set for two, and she could hear music playing quietly in the background. As she approached the table, she noted that Klaus had scattered red rose petals on the floor, creating a path from the door to her chair. The rest of the roses were lying across her plate, and she picked them up and brought them to her nose to inhale their sweet scent.

"I had considered taking you to a fancy restaurant in the city," he said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "However, if I had done that, then I would have had to play the perfect gentleman and keep my hands to myself all night. So I decided perhaps we'd be better off staying in."

Avery smiled and turned slightly in his arms, reaching up with one hand to tilt his head down a bit so she could more easily kiss him. "Thank you, Klaus. This is perfect."

" _You_ are perfect," he told her, then kissed her once more before releasing her and stepping around her so he could pull out her chair. Avery took a seat and he carefully tucked the chair under her, then took the roses from her and set them on a nearby tray in exchange for two platters covered with silver lids.

"I hope this is to your liking, miss," he said with a bow as he placed one of the platters before her and removed the lid with a flourish. Avery smiled at him as he set his own platter down and removed its lid, and then let out another gasp of surprise when she looked down at the meal he had made for her. Every one of her favorite foods were sitting on the plate, and all of them appeared to have been expertly prepared.

"How did you..?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I have my ways," he replied, winking at her and giving her another quick kiss before taking his own seat next to her. "But I can't take all the credit for making this. Raeger helped quite a bit."

"I'll be sure to thank him, then," she said, giggling merrily as she began to eat while Klaus poured them each a glass of wine.

They ate together in relative silence, occasionally punctuated by the sound of Klaus making frustrated little noises each time Avery began to trail her foot up the inside of his leg. She would always feign innocence when he looked over at her, causing him to chuckle, until he eventually reached his breaking point and stood from his chair to lean over and kiss her roughly.

"You best stop that, love, or I may be tempted to skip dessert," he warned her.

"Wouldn't that be more like trading one dessert for another?" she replied cheekily, sipping her wine as she watched the desire flare in his eyes.

He kissed her again, leaning over her to dominate the kiss as their tongue tangled together wildly until they were both gasping for breath.

"Behave," he ordered in a husky whisper before taking his seat once more, and they finished the rest of their dinner amidst longing glances. Avery made a spectacle out of eating from that point on, sensually savoring each and every bite with a soft moan or tiny whimper of pleasure, and she was delighted to see the effect her little show was having on Klaus. His eyes were glued upon her, his breaths becoming increasingly shallow, and his own meal was all but forgotten in front of him.

"Aren't you going to eat that?" Avery questioned him, pointing to the rest of the food on his plate with her fork.

"I'm thinking about eating something else, right now," Klaus informed her with a seductive smile, and Avery shifted a bit in her chair at the way he was staring at her like she was some sort of prey he was waiting for just the right moment to pounce upon.

"However," he added, holding up a single finger as he suddenly rose from his chair and went into the next room. Avery craned her neck and attempted to see what he was doing, but the wall separating the two large rooms was blocking her view. After a moment, he returned with his hands behind his back and his smile had changed from predatory to nervous.

"I have something for you," he said, grabbing his chair with one hand and pulling it closer to hers as he continued to hide whatever he had gone to retrieve behind his back. "Hold out your hands."

Avery smiled and cupped her hands in front of her, and Klaus placed a long, black velvet box with a silver letter H flanked by two roses embossed upon it. She gave him a questioning look and opened the box, her jaw dropping open upon seeing what was inside.

"Happy birthday, love," Klaus told her, reaching out to gently caress the side of her face.

"Klaus, I... I can't accept this!" she protested, shaking her head as she looked from him back to the diamond-dusted platinum locket in the box. It was the exact one she'd been looking at when the two of them had stopped at Herschel's on their first date. "It was so expensive!"

Klaus chuckled a little. "I _have_ money, Avery. You don't have to worry about whether or not I can afford it. Besides, I had it engraved, so I _can't_ return it."

She glanced up at him and then turned the locket over in the box. Across the back in delicate script were their names. "Avery and Klaus," she read aloud.

"Open it," he requested, reaching over to do so for her. Avery looked down at what was inside and immediately felt tears forming in her eyes.

"Where did you get this picture?" she asked him, looking at the photograph of herself within the locket. It had been taken when she was about seventeen, shortly before she had graduated from school.

"Your father," Klaus said, gently brushing away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes. "I went to visit him earlier in the season and explained to him what I was planning on doing, so he was more than happy to assist me in picking out a suitable photograph."

Avery gasped, realization suddenly setting in. "My mother's at the gallery on Tuesdays! That's where you went... to see my father on the one day of the week you'd be able to avoid having any sort of confrontation with her."

"Exactly."

"And I'm guessing this handsome young devil on the left is you?" she asked him with a tiny laugh as she looked from the younger version of her boyfriend in the picture to the older man sitting in front of her.

"It is," Klaus replied, blushing. "I know it's sort of silly, but I wanted to use pictures of us when we were about the same age because I, um... Well... Like I told you before, being with you makes me feel like a teenager all over again."

"Horny and ready to screw anything in a skirt?" Avery teased him in an attempt to keep herself from openly crying. Klaus smiled a little and closed the locket.

"The first part, certainly," he admitted, taking the box back from her and removing the necklace from within it, then opening the clasp of the chain and placing it around her neck as he continued to speak. "What I really mean, though, is that for the first time – in a _long_ time – I am truly content with my life the way it is right now. I've found my happiness, and I owe that all to you."

He carefully pulled her hair out from under the chain and adjusted the necklace so the tiny oval locked rested just above the dip of her cleavage, pushing down the ruffle crated by the sheer overlay of her dress so he could see it setting against her slightly-flushed skin.

"I love you, Klaus," she told him tearfully and leaned forward to kiss him softly.

"I love you, too, Avery," he whispered in reply against her lips before kissing her once more. "So very much. And I would do anything for you."

They resumed their kissing, Klaus' fingers softly running through her hair as Avery's hands rested upon his chest, feeling the steady, fast beating of his heart beneath her palms. He tried to take things farther, his tongue begging for entrance to her mouth, but as soon as hers made contact she suddenly pulled away and looked up at him with half-lidded eyes.

"Do you truly mean that?" she asked him breathlessly. "You would do anything for me?"

"Yes," Klaus whispered, nodding his head a bit as he leaned in to claim her mouth, but Avery suddenly stood up and wandered toward the door. Klaus watched her, blinking in confusion, trying to figure out what he'd said to upset her and drive her away from him. She stopped at the door and stood there for a moment, completely motionless, and Klaus held his breath as he watched her until, finally, she reached out and turned the lock into place.

"There is one more thing I want for my birthday," she told him as she turned to face him, leaning back against the closed door. He stood from his seat and gradually closed the distance between them, his eyes moving from hers to the throbbing pulse in her neck to her mouth. She bit her bottom lip once he stopped directly in front of her, a soft gasp escaping her throat as he leaned down to bush his lips across hers before pulling away, his expression intentionally kept blank.

"What is your wish, my love?" he asked her, bring up a hand to cup her chin and turn her gaze toward his when she looked away. Her momentary spark of boldness from when she'd locked the door had disappeared and she was once more the shy, blushing girl he'd once felt so guilty for desiring. He nearly kissed her then, but he wanted to hear her say what it was she wanted, first.

"I want to be devoured by the big, bad wolf," she finally said after a long pause, though she spoke so quietly he had barely been able to hear her.

Klaus grinned and slid his arms around her waist, capturing her hands behind her back where she'd been hiding them, then slowly raised them up over her head and pinned her there between his body and the door. He finally kissed her then, but held himself back just enough so that he wouldn't frighten her, keeping things slow and yet passionate as he explored her sweet mouth with his tongue. As soon as the first whimper escaped her, he backed off, catching her bottom lip gently between his teeth as he pulled away.

"Are you sure?" he questioned her, his voice almost a low, seductive growl as his eyes searched hers. "You truly wish for me to... _devour_ you?"

Avery nodded, not trusting her voice. She knew if she answered him out loud it would likely come out sounding hesitant and she didn't want to give him any cause for stopping things from progressing any further. Klaus gave a single nod and released his hold upon her hands, then bent down and scooped her up into his arms. Her heart hammered even more wildly as he carried her to the room where he slept, his golden-green eyes focused intently upon her and causing her to suddenly feel very self-conscious. She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, then opened them again a moment later when he carefully placed her upon his bed so she was sitting at the edge of the mattress with her legs over the side. He stood before her and took off his coat, tossing it aside, then placed his hands upon her shoulders and slowly slid the straps of her dress down as far as he could.

"Zipper?" he asked, a frustrated look crossing his face, and Avery reached behind herself to slide the zipper down a few inches in order to give the dress the slack it was lacking so he could continue. He pushed her dress down even more, his eyes still holding her gaze despite her breasts being bared to him, and it wasn't until after he kissed her softly that he finally did look.

"They're perfect," he told her, causing her to blush and raise her arms to cover herself. Klaus grasped her hands in his, linking their fingers together, and held them down at her sides against the covers.

"I'm not going to make love to you tonight, Avery," he informed her, looking into her eyes as he spoke.

"Why not?" she wondered, visibly disappointed at the revelation.

"I have my reasons. I don't expect you to understand all of them."

"But you said you'd give me what I wanted for my birthday," she reminded him, and a slow smile formed upon Klaus' lips.

"I did... And you asked me to 'devour' you, remember?" He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, releasing his grip on one of her hands to wrap his arm around her and support her back as he carefully laid her down upon his bed.

"I'm going to pleasure you in ways you've only ever dreamed about," he told her as he rested above her and gazed lovingly into her soft brown eyes as a renewed burst of color spread across her cheeks.

Avery pulled her other hand out of his grasp and reached up to tangle both of her hands in his dark hair, pulling him down until their lips met. She sighed softly into the kiss, and Klaus whispered loving words to her as he began trailing his kisses along her jawline and down the side of her neck, pausing briefly to tease her throbbing pulse with the softest fluttering of his tongue against his.

Her heart beat more and more frantically as he continued kissing his way along her collarbone and down her chest, and her fingers tightened a bit in his hair as she watched him make his slow ascent up the side of one of her breasts, licking and nibbling upon the soft, pale flesh until he reached its peak. With a soft groan, he lavished her partly-erect nipple with tiny little kisses and licks until it had hardened completely, then took it into his mouth and continued to roll it around upon his tongue as he suckled upon it.

Avery's eyes fell closed and she moaned, her fingers tightening even further in his hair until her nails were practically digging into his scalp. Klaus groaned and moved to her other breast to bestow the same attentions upon it, his hand coming to rest upon the one he abandoned and squeezing it, drawing a tiny little cry as his palm rubbed against her now-sensitive nipple.

"Spread your legs a bit, love," Klaus instructed as he slowly sat up, causing her hands to fall away from him, and Avery did as she was told. She opened her eyes and looked up at him while he pushed the hem of her dress upwards, and she bit her lip a bit when he finally uncovered her womanhood – completely unobstructed by any form of undergarments. Klaus swore quietly, his breathing becoming a bit more ragged, and met her eyes.

"You naughty little minx," he said, slowly smiling. "You _planned_ this."

"My plan was a bit different from this, but yes," she admitted without breaking eye contact, though she continued biting her lip and blushing furiously.

Klaus chuckled a little and reached between her legs, and Avery felt the backside of his hand brush across her a bit before he withdrew it and raised it for her to see the wetness glistening upon his fingers in the candlelight.

"I certainly hope this dress can be cleaned, because you've already made a mess of it," he told her with a spark of humor in his voice and a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "And believe me, it's only going to get worse."

He lowered his hand and Avery closed her eyes and sighed contentedly as she felt his careful touch upon her sex, though she was a bit confused as to why he was just barely touching her and not doing anything more.

"Forgive me, love. I didn't really take the time before to enjoy how beautiful you are," he said as he continued to touch her gently, his fingers tracing her entrance before separating slightly and running up the length of her folds.

"I... I take it you like what you see?" she asked him, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment. The only person who had ever paid attention to her down there was her doctor, but having Klaus openly admire her sex was completely different and made her feel both a little uneasy and incredibly sexy at the same time.

"I do," Klaus assured her, sliding his hand up higher to brush his fingers through the small patch of golden curls she had left covering herself. "I especially like that you haven't chosen to go completely bare, unlike so many other women these days."

"I could," she offered, peeking through her fingers, and Klaus chuckled a bit.

"I would very much prefer that you don't," he said, placing his hand upon the inside of her thigh and pushing her legs a little farther apart as he moved to settle between them. "That sort of thing has never sat very well with me. It makes me feel like I'm performing sexual acts upon a little girl, rather than a grown woman."

Avery shivered when he kissed the inside of her thigh, just above her knee, and lowered her hands to the bed to clutch at the dark blue coverlet beneath her. "You don't need any more reason to feel self-conscious about our age difference."

"I don't care about the age difference any more, love," he told her, looking up to her and smiling. "If I did, I wouldn't be doing _this_ right now." Holding her gaze steadily, he slowly licked his way up her thigh, stopping just short of his destination.

"Klaus?" Avery called his name once a sudden thought hit her, and he lifted his head to look at her as she sat up slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"I... It's just..." She bit her lip, too embarrassed to put her concerns into words. Klaus moved up the bed once more and kissed her, then sighed a bit and pressed his forehead to hers.

"I'm not expecting you to reciprocate, love," he told her, seemingly reading her mind. "Tonight is all about _you_. Even if it wasn't, I still wouldn't be expecting it of you. Despite what you may have been led to believe by movies or Iris' novels or anything other people might have said, not _all_ men want that twenty-four-seven. Personally, I'd be fine even if you never feel comfortable with the idea of doing it."

"Really?" she asked, pulling away slightly to look into his eyes.

"Really," Klaus replied, his tone sincere. "I don't _ever_ want you doing anything that makes you feel uncomfortable just because you think it will please me. That sort of thing will only lead to resentment." He reached down and touched the locket he'd given her, which was resting just over her heart. "I want this to be you and me, forever. Smiling and happy together, lovers _and_ madly in love with one another."

Avery nodded and kissed him again, and Klaus laid her back once more as he reached down and slowly slid two of his fingers deep inside her. She gasped at the sensation, her eyes going a little wide in surprise that he had chosen not to ease her into it the way he had before, and he smiled down at her as he continued to pleasure her with his touch even as he returned to his previous position between her legs.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," he told her with a cocksure grin which Avery thought made him seem much younger than he really was, "I have a rather beautiful pussy here that is just begging for my attention."

She blushed at his words, then gasped loudly when his fingers were suddenly replaced by his tongue. He let out a deep moan as he lapped at her entrance, and the subtle vibrations caused such an unusual – yet pleasurable – sensation in Avery that all she could do was whimper in response. She felt his hands upon her thighs, gently massaging them and his thumbs trailing inward to spread her sex in order to allow him better access, and she threw her head back and moaned as the tip of his tongue began to dip inside her ever so slightly.

"Klaus," she said his name upon a breathy gasp, already feeling the pressure building within her despite the short time he'd been pleasuring her. He gave no indication that he noticed either her utterance of his name or her soft panting as she began to writhe a bit under him, but the groan of pleasure he let out as he increased the tempo at which he was swirling his tongue all around the very center of her womanhood was proof enough he knew what would soon be coming.

"Yes," she managed to say in a shaky, high-pitched voice, wanting him to know that she was enjoying what he was doing but finding it hard to form words. Her hands found their way into his hair and she grasped him a bit more roughly than she would have liked, tugging upon his dark locks as her gently writhing from before escalated into an uncontrollable bucking of her hips. Klaus didn't seem to mind, though, as he shifted his position a bit on the bed and covered her more fully with his lips, kissing her sex deeply the way he would her mouth.

Soon enough, she was gone. She came apart with his name falling repeatedly from her lips like some sort of sacred mantra, trembling from her head to her toes as her orgasm ripped through her entire body and caused her breathing to stop for the barest of moments. To her surprise, though, Klaus didn't pull away. Instead, lazily lapped at her entrance a few more times before re-positioning his mouth slightly higher, his fingers once more entering her as he sought out and found the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of her sex.

Avery cried out as he wrapped his lips around her clit and began to alternate between gently sucking upon it and lapping at it with his tongue. Meanwhile, his fingers were sliding in and out of her, curled just right to hit the spot he'd discovered the first time he'd had her in his bed. Her hands fell from his hair to instead fist the coverlet beneath her, and she bit her lip against the screams of pleasure which were threatening to tear their way out of her throat. She wasn't sure if it was simply the combination of what he was doing with his mouth and his fingers or the fact she had just barely come down off her previous orgasm, but Klaus was right... He was giving her more pleasure than she ever could have imagined possible.

"Oh, _fuck_ ," she gasped as she felt another knot of tension quickly begin to build inside her. Klaus redoubled his efforts, increasing the tempo of his fingers pumping in and out of her while sucking even harder upon her clit and occasionally throwing in a gentle bite for good measure. It didn't take long before Avery found herself once more at the edge, and the screams she had been desperately trying to contain erupted from her mouth as she came harder than she ever believed was possible, her entire body shuddering with the force of the pleasure she was feeling.

Once again, Klaus kept his mouth pinned to her as she rode out her orgasm, his tongue carefully stroking the sensitive nub as she came down. He then pulled his fingers from within her, drawing a small whimper of protest from her throat, and placed a few slow, languid licks over her folds. At first, Avery thought he was going to attempt to go for a hat trick, and she shook her head mutely in protest. Her body already felt more than spent from the intensity of the two orgasms she'd already had and the rapid succession in which he'd given them to her. He soon pulled away, though, and she opened her eyes to see him smiling at her as he wiped a generous amount of fluid from his chin with the back of his hand.

Using what little strength she still possessed, she sat up and grasped him by his cravat and pulled him to her to kiss him. She immediately slid her tongue into his mouth and he stiffened momentarily, taken by surprise by her actions. She could taste herself on his tongue, and while it was a bit strange it wasn't exactly unpleasant to have that small reminder of what they'd just shared. After a moment she broke off then kiss and bit her lip as she looked up to his mussed hair, blushing.

"I hope I didn't hurt you," she told him, causing Klaus to chuckle and place a kiss upon her forehead.

"I rather liked you pulling at my hair," he replied. "Knowing that I was driving you so insane with pleasure that you couldn't help but lose control is how I can tell I've done a good job."

They fell into another slow, languid kiss, and Klaus buried one if his hands in her now-straight hair as he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her body closer to his. After a moment he chuckled once more and she looked up at him, her head tilted to the side in curiosity.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," he said, ginning and shaking his head. "It's just that you were _quite_ loud there, at the end. I'm curious if Marian might have heard it."

Avery's cheeks turned crimson as she suddenly recalled that the doctor lived right next door to Klaus. There was still a bit of distance between their houses, but even _she_ knew she had been screaming like a banshee all through her second orgasm.

"Don't worry about it," he told her, his grin softening into a loving smile as he tucked her hair behind her ear. "If he _did_ hear anything, the first thing he's going to do is harass me about it in the morning. And when he does, I can make him promise not to breathe a word about it to anyone else."

Avery nodded and Klaus sighed as he looked to the clock. "We should probably get you home."

"I'm not sure I can walk right now," she said with a laugh, which he joined her in.

"Well, then, I supposed I will just have to carry you, won't I?" he offered with a wink.

"Or I could just stay here for the night," she suggested in reply.

Klaus shook his head. "As much as I absolutely love the idea of waking up next to you, I really don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not?" Avery wondered.

"Because tomorrow is the Summer Harvest Festival," he reminded her, and she closed her eyes and fell back on the bed with a groan.

It was always _something_ , wasn't it? She'd been hoping he'd say yes so that maybe she would be able to convince him to make love to her, after all, but he had a very good point. She needed to get home and go to bed so she could be up extra-early in the morning in order to see to all of her usual chores before she had to go to town to participate in the festival. She wouldn't have really cared any other time, but Elise was so sore from having lost the farming rights for the paddy to her that she'd decided to enter against her in order to 'prove her superiority.' And Avery would be damned if that spoiled little bitch was going to win with a crop she never so much as _looked at_ prior to the day of the festival.

"Fuck me," she swore.

"I told you: not tonight, love," Klaus said, his tone of voice making it quite apparent that the statement was meant to help lighten her mood. To her surprise, it actually worked and she felt herself smiling as she looked up at him.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" she asked him, and Klaus laughed a little as he leaned over her and kissed her.

"Many times. But it never hurts to say it again, does it?"


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Avery hummed happily to herself as she set up things upon the cart Gunther had made for her to use for displaying her wines at the trade depot, carefully arranging various bottles and glasses she had brought along to allow any potential customers who stopped by an opportunity to taste her wines before making a purchase. Three days had passed since her birthday, and she was still in a rather good mood.

The Harvest Festival hadn't exactly gone the way she'd hoped, but it still turned out well. She lost, but – surprisingly – so did Elise... to Fritz, of all people. He later admitted to her that he'd had some help in the form of Reina and Nadi, who both came by his farm at his invitation to give him some tips on how to more effectively use his land so that he'd be able to produce more abundant and higher-quality crop yields. She didn't mind that, though. After all, Fritz was still doing the majority of the work on his land by himself, unlike the way Elise ran things on _her_ farm, so what harm was there in asking the two people in town who knew plants like the back of their hand for a bit of advice?

"Hey, Avery."

She looked over her shoulder and smiled as Cam approached, hands in his pockets. She greeted him and put the last finishing touches on her display, then turned fully toward him and nervously bit her lip as she watched him look over her small stand.

"Looks good," he told her with a warm smile. "Very inviting. I'm sure you'll sell out before noon."

"Are you looking to buy, yourself?" she asked him, and he nodded as a slight frown pulled at his lips.

"Yeah, I am, actually. It's just... I've never been that big of a wine drinker, you know?" he told her with a shrug.

"What's the occasion?" she wondered as she led him closer to where she had the few different varieties of wine she had available displayed.

"Well, I'm going home this weekend to see my family for a few days," he said, reaching up with one hand to rub the back of his neck. "Maybe you could recommend something that would be good for drinking with my wife after our daughter's gone to bed?"

"Why, Cam... Are you going to seduce your wife?" Avery asked him with a wink and he chuckled as a light blush colored his cheeks.

"Pretty sure I don't have to actually 'seduce' her, but it would be nice to set a romantic mood."

Avery nodded and selected one of the bottles, which was made of the same plain blue glass as the others but sported a small charm of an apple around its neck.

"Try this one," she suggested, pouring a bit into a glass and handing it to him. "Apple wine infused with spices. A perfect blend for the start of the fall season."

"You certainly have your sales pitch down already," he told her with a bit of a smirk before taking a sip of the wine and blinking in surprise. He then took a second sip before downing the rest of what was in the glass all at once.

"This is really, really good, Avery," he told her, nodding as he handed the empty glass back to her.

"You can also drink it warm, if you prefer, and it's just like mulled cider."

"Mulled cider that'll get you drunk off your ass," Cam remarked, causing Avery to laugh a bit.

"True. So, would you like to try another?" she gestured toward the other bottles lined up, each with a different fruit-shaped charm hanging around its neck. Cam shook his head.

"No, I think I'm going to go with that spiced apple one," he told her, and she nodded and began packing up a bottle for him to take home.

"Daddy!"

Both of them looked over toward the exit of the depot which led out of town toward the train station and found a little girl with light brown hair in pigtails running straight for them, the sound of her black dress shoes tapping against the stone ground intermingling with her squeals of happiness.

"Lucy?" Cam's initial surprise at the sight of his daughter melted into an uncontainable grin, and by the time she reached them he had knelt down to scoop her up in a hug and spun her around as she giggled.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her once they stopped spinning, his voice choked with emotion, and the little girl kissed him on his cheek.

"We came to suppise you on your birfday!" she informed her father, her voice slightly muffled by his shoulder as she continued to cling tightly to him.

"Is that so?" Cam said, turning his head in the other direction and smiling even more.

Avery took a step to the side to see what he was looking at and found a woman probably a few years older than she was, with the same color hair as Lucy hanging loose to just below her shoulders and held out of her face with a teal-colored headband that matched the shoes she was wearing. She also had on dark thigh-high stockings, a denim mini skirt, and a short-sleeved brown jacket over a plain white scoop-neck shirt. Around her neck was a thin golden chain upon which was a plain gold band – likely Cam's wedding ring since Avery had never seen him wearing one and she already had her own on her left ring finger.

_Must be Lily_ , Avery thought to herself, recalling her face from the picture Cam had showed her and the others that one day at the restaurant.

"Happy birthday, Kamil," she told him with a smile, tears in her dark violet-blue eyes, and Cam set down his daughter before going over to her and pulling her into his arms for a passionate kiss. Their daughter quickly followed suit, giggling as she rushed over to her parents and hugged her father's leg even as he continued to kiss her mother while they held each other tight.

Avery turned away from the scene, not so much out of embarrassment, but out of the small throb of longing it made her feel in her heart. The two of them were obviously still desperately in love with one another, even though they'd already been married several years, and Cam also appeared to be quite enamored with his daughter. She wondered if things would be like that between her and Klaus someday – if she would ever meet with him upon his return from a lengthy trip with their children in tow for a loving, heartfelt reunion like the one Cam and his family were having.

She smiled a little to herself as she finished wrapping Cam's bottle of wine in tissue paper and placing it in a bag for him to take home, thinking about how Klaus already kissed her quite often in the same manner Cam did his wife... when they were alone, at any rate. He was still a bit reluctant to be so overly affectionate in public – aside from the one time outside Antonio's, which didn't count because they were both a little drunk – and she fully understood his reasons. After all, they lived in a small town and would never hear the end of it from certain parties if they started making out in the middle of some town festival in full view of everyone. Still... Just once, she wished he would toss aside his gentlemanly exterior and let the rest of the town see that passionate side of himself which he usually reserved just for her.

Of course, then it wouldn't be 'just for her' any more, would it?

Sighing a bit, she tied the handles of the bag closed with a piece of ribbon and curled the ends with some scissors, then took it over to where Cam was still with his family. His wife was standing at his side with one of her hands in the back pocket of his jeans while he had once more picked up their daughter and was listening to her talk about how Uncle Kana was taking care of the animals at home for them.

"Don't tell me he's leaving your sister _alone_ all day to look after the boys?" Cam asked, turning his concerned gaze to his wife, who shook her head.

"He's just going over in the mornings when he's done helping her at their place, then heading back home. Ash is making sure they get back into the stables before dark."

Avery cleared her throat a bit, then gave them all a small wave when they turned toward her.

"Oh, hey... Avery, I'm sorry. Let me introduce you," Cam said, blinking and blushing a little. "This is my wife, Lilian, and our daughter, Lucy. Girls, this is Miss Avery Durand."

"It's nice to finally meet you," Lily said with a friendly smile as she extended her free hand in greeting. "Cam's had nothing but good things to say about you and everyone else here in town."

"It's good to meet you, too, and likewise," Avery told her, glancing briefly at Cam. "Your husband has done quite a bit of gushing about you."

"Is that so?" Lily wondered, looking at Cam with a smirk. He blushed and whispered something to his daughter which made her giggle, and Lily slapped him in the arm.

"What was that?" she asked him in mock anger, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Nothing, love," he told her with a grin, and Avery blushed when she noticed he used the same term of endearment for his wife that Klaus used for her.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion, but here's that wine you wanted, Cam," she told him, holding the bag out to him. He nodded his head toward the bag and Lily took it from her since his hands were occupied with keeping the little girl in his arms balanced on his hip.

"What do I owe you?" he asked her and Avery shook her head.

"Consider it a birthday present," she told him, waving off his question. "Only the first one's free, though. I'll never make any money if I keep giving this stuff away, after all."

Cam chuckled and thanked her, and the three of them wandered off toward Asche's stall as their daughter started to ramble about how she wanted to touch the 'effelants' the trader had recently started using to pull her cart full of goods into town. Avery continued to watch them as a wistful sigh escaped her lips, her mind once more wandering toward thoughts of Klaus and the future they might have together. She was pulled out of those thoughts, however, by the sound of a familiar, masculine laugh.

Brow furrowed in confusion, she turned toward the town gates. That had been Klaus' laugh, but why did it sound like he was just getting back into town this early in the morning? Furthermore, what was he laughing about? She started to head in the direction of his voice, but she stopped when she heard the one that came in response: Iris. Frozen in the very spot where she stood, she was forced to watch as the two of them approached the gates arm-in-arm, talking and laughing with one another. She tried to reason that perhaps they'd gone to town extra-early for breakfast together, but she knew that was impossible because of how to train schedule was set up. Then she saw the briefcase in his hand and suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe.

Klaus had never come home from the city the night before and, apparently, neither had Iris. They'd both been gone all night, and here they were returning together and looking very much like a happy couple.

She squeezed her eyes tight and quickly turned on her heel before the could notice her, then rushed over to Jonas' little operations stand and asked him if he wouldn't mind keeping an eye on her cart and closing it for her at the end of the day. When he asked what was wrong, she told him she was feeling ill and needed to get home to rest – which wasn't entirely untrue. The sight of Klaus and Iris together really _had_ made her feel a bit dizzy and physically ill. Jonas agreed and she ran away as fast as she could, back through the town and up the mountain to her house, thankful that no one saw her along the way. By the time she had closed the front door behind her, her vision was so blurry from crying that she had to feel around with her hands like a blind person just find her way to her dining table and sit down.

She couldn't believe it. She didn't _want_ to believe it. And yet... she was having a very hard time justifying what she had just seen. She knew that there might very well be a completely innocent explanation for the two of them having _both_ spent the night in the city and then returning together the next morning, but for each logical reason she came up with she found two more reasons to think that it was complete bullshit.

Questions hurled around in her mind at a thousand miles a minute. Did they spend the night together? If they did, was it simply platonic or did something else happen between them? Had 'something else' been happening between them for a while, now? Was that the _real_ reason why he didn't want to have sex with her? After all, he'd never actually given her a reason why he turned her down on her birthday. He's simply said she wouldn't understand his reasons. Maybe he didn't want her because he was already getting it from Iris.

And what about the locket? Surely, he meant what he said about it representing the way he wanted them to be together? Hell, the way he'd said that had made it seem practically like a marriage proposal... But what if that was just an act? She knew from Addie's past experience with some of her old boyfriends that men bought expensive gifts for their girlfriends after cheating on them in an effort to somehow ease their guilty consciences. What if that was the case with Klaus? He's not only bought her a _very_ expensive piece of jewelry for her birthday, but he'd also gone to great lengths to personalize it for her in order to remind her of the love they supposedly shared for one another.

Avery's eyes shot open as soon as she realized she'd thought that Klaus 'supposedly' loved her, and a soft sob wracked her body as she once more squeezed them shut and shook her head.

"No... No, he _does_ love me!" she reminded herself. "I know he does!"

She tried to recall all the times they had been together, even before they were actually a couple. He'd always looked at her with so much warmth in his eyes. What was it Cam had said? He doesn't look at Iris like that? Avery tried to recall the exact way he'd just been looking at Iris, but she couldn't do it. She'd been so utterly shocked and dismayed that she'd left without really getting a good, close look at the two of them together.

He had offered to stop spending time with Iris, and she had told him it didn't bother her. It hadn't, then... but when he originally offered, she hadn't felt threatened by the older woman's presence in his life. What would he do if she went to his house right now and demanded that he cut all ties with her? Would he do it? Refuse outright? Or maybe he would say he'd do it, but then continue seeing Iris behind her back. After all, Avery really had no idea what either of them did when they went to the city and she didn't have the time to go with him twice a week on his business trips to make sure he was keeping a promise she forced him to make out of fear. So the entire idea of asking him to cut Iris out of his life was out of the question.

_You shouldn't have to keep reminding yourself that he loves you, though, either_ , came that little nagging voice of doubt in the back of her mind. _If he truly loved you, there would be no need for you to question it. Ever_.

"Klaus loves me. He loves me," she repeated the words over and over like a mantra as she clutched the locket around her neck so hard her hand began to shake.

Maybe if she said it enough times, she would no longer have a reason to doubt that it was true.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

"You look like shit."

Weary brown eyes with dark circles under them slowly lifted to match Raeger's smiling blue ones, and while he did his best to keep his smile in place, it faltered at the sight of utter dejectedness sitting before him.

"Thanks," Avery quietly muttered before she turned back to picking at the food on her plate. She felt just as horrible as she was sure she'd looked.

Ever since she'd seen Iris and Klaus together on the first day of Fall, she'd barely left her house. She still made a point of tending to her animals each morning, and put them away into the stables at night, but it was more automatic than anything else. She still hadn't planted her crops for the new season, even though they were already four days into it. Instead, she spent her days lying on her couch under a blanket, watching re-runs of stupid kids' shows or just leaving the weather channel on to provide enough background noise so that she didn't have to think.

She had hoped that Klaus would come looking for her, wondering why she'd blown him off for their usual date on Thursday, but he didn't. She assumed Jonas probably informed him that she wasn't feeling well, because Klaus wasn't so stupid that he would have surely realized that the unmanned wine cart belonged to her and he likely would have said something to the other man about it. The only person who had shown up at her house that day was Cam, who had seen everything and was concerned about her, but she'd turned him away at the door and told him to go spend time with his wife and daughter who had come so far just to see him.

Then Raeger had shown up that morning, and Avery had tried to close the door in his face, too. He'd have nothing of it, though, and pushed his way inside her home at the ungodly hour of sunrise and refused to leave until she agreed to go with him into town so he could make her something to eat. He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, unmoving, and in her weakened state Avery couldn't do a damn thing to make him budge. So she'd taken an extra-long time in the bath in the hopes that he'd get tired of waiting for her. Instead, he began pounding on the bathroom door after about an hour had passed, and broke it down when chose not to respond.

"You really scared me this morning," he told her, sliding a fresh, steaming pancake onto her plate next to the bacon and eggs she had barely touched. "When you didn't answer me, I thought maybe you'd hurt yourself."

"I'm heartbroken, Raeger, not suicidal," he told her at the same time her stomach growled audibly at the smell of her favorite breakfast treat. She picked up her fork, deciding maybe it really would be best if she ate something, but Raeger's hand caught her by the wrist before she got a chance to cut into the fluffy pancake on her plate.

"Don't say things like that," he said, his voice quiet and trembling just a little. Avery looked up and found him looking more serious than she'd ever seen him, his eyes glistening with tears. "Don't even _joke_ about that sort of thing, okay?"

Avery nodded wordlessly and after a moment he released her hand and turned his back on her to clean some glasses. She watched him silently as he took a few shaky breaths, wondering what had him so worked up. Maybe he was really just that worried about her, but she had a feeling there was something more to it. She wanted to ask, but she knew better than to try to pry into parts of Raeger's personal life that he hadn't already opened to discussion. Instead, she quietly began eating her breakfast, ignoring the eggs which had gone cold and instead focusing on her pancake and bacon.

"What happened?" he finally asked her, his back still turned.

"Nothing," Avery told him, staring at her plate.

"Dammit, Avery, talk to me!" Raeger yelled, slamming the glass in his hand down on the counter before turning toward her. She started at him with wide, frightened eyes, and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he ran a hand back through his hair before continuing. "You can't keep this shit bottled up inside you or it's going to slowly kill you."

"Raeger..." She said his name quietly, getting him to look at her once more, but didn't say anything else for fear of another outburst.

"Look, I already know about what happened the other day at the trade depot," he told her, going to stand in front of her and leaning against the counter with his hands on either side of her plate. "Cam brought his family in here for dinner and pulled me aside to tell me about what he saw. He's worried about you, too, you know."

"I don't know why you two are getting so worked up over this. It's _my_ problem, not yours."

"Cam's concerned about you, as a friend," he said, pausing to reach up and tuck her long hair behind one ear before it got into her maple syrup. "I'm worried about you because you and Fritz are the closest thing to family I have in this town. Hell, in the whole _world_. Seeing either one of you this upset tears me up inside because I feel like I'm completely useless and there's nothing I can do to stop it from happening."

He didn't need to tell her what was wrong. She understood, now. His father had walked out when he was just a toddler and he hadn't been able to stop it, and then both his mother and grandfather had gotten sick and passed on and there had been nothing he could do to stop that from happening, either. It was no wonder he was acting the way he was toward her. In fact, Avery was sure that was the root of him being the way he was with women, too. Everyone he'd cared about had left him in one way or another, so he refused to develop feelings for others out of fear that they, too, would leave and there wouldn't be anything he could do to prevent it from happening.

"I'm not going anywhere, Raeger," she told him, placing her hand on his and giving it a squeeze. "Even if... even if Klaus decides he'd rather be with Iris than me, I'm not going to just pack up and leave town. This is my home, now."

Raeger silently nodded, squeezing her hand a bit tighter in her grip but saying nothing.

"That said," she continued, "while I appreciate the concern, I would _also_ appreciate it if you and Cam and everyone else in town stayed out of this. It's something that I... That _Klaus_ and I need to work out on our own, one way or another. If people on the outside start meddling, that's only going to make things worse."

"Then why haven't you gone to see him in three days?" he asked her in an accusatory tone, finally meeting her eyes again. "He was in here yesterday, asking about you. He's worried, too, you know."

"If he's so damn worried, why hasn't _he_ come to see _me_?" Avery replied, the volume of her voice increasing slightly.

"Jonas told him you were sick."

"That's a shit excuse, and you know it! We're supposed to be a couple now, right? If I'm sick, he should be checking in on me himself, making sure I'm okay. Not... asking around to other people about my well-being."

"I... I don't know what to say to that," Raeger admitted.

"You and I both know he's probably been shacked up with Iris all weekend, glad for the lack of interruptions from me," she said, stabbing angrily at the remainder of her pancake with her fork as she spoke.

"Or," Raeger said as he cupped his hand under her chin and forced her to look away from the breakfast she was mangling and into his eyes once more. "Maybe he's planning something for the Music Festival today."

"Like what?" Avery angrily snapped.

Raeger shrugged a little and forced a smile. "You told me that some of what he said to you on your birthday sounded a bit like a proposal. Maybe he's going to ask you to marry him during the sweethearts dance."

"I wish," Avery said with a rueful sigh, her gaze returning to the mess on her plate which had once been food.

"Hey, is Avery here?" Lillie asked as she poked her head into the restaurant, holding the door open just far enough to peer inside. "She's not at her house."

"Yeah, she's here," Raeger informed her, standing up straight and gesturing to his lone customer. "Why?"

Avery looked over to the normally-cheerful young woman and saw an uncharacteristically worried expression on her face. Her cheeks were flushed – probably from having run all the way up the mountain and back down again looking for her – and her eyes were a bit red and puff as though she had recently been crying.

"Um..." She hesitated, clutching a rolled-up newspaper tightly in her hands as she approached the counter to stand next to Avery, biting her lip nervously. "You and Klaus... You're still dating, right?"

Avery's posture stiffened. She wanted to say yes, but her voice failed her and all she could do was nod in response to the question.

"I'm... I'm so sorry," Lillie said with a shake of her head, a fresh round of tears forming in her eyes.

"Sorry for _what_ , Lil?" Raeger asked her, a note of frustrated annoyance in his otherwise comforting tone of voice.

Lillie let out a shaky sigh and wordlessly unrolled the newspaper she had been carrying around, then handed it to Avery and pointed to a large color photograph of Iris and Klaus. The two of them were dressed up in formal attire, looking at each other and smiling. Iris had one arm around Klaus' waist while her opposite hand was pressed against his chest, and his arm was wrapped around her and holding her close. Avery shook her head, denying the existence of the photograph even though it was right before her eyes, and then her gaze moved down to the boldfaced caption below the picture.

_**Bestselling author Iris Ingersson appears to have successfully managed to snag one of the city's most eligible bachelors – perfumer Klaus Albrecht. The two of them made their public debut as a couple Wednesday evening at the 43rd annual charity ball, this year held at...** _

She couldn't read the rest, as by that point her hot tears had completely obstructed her vision. She felt Raeger's hand resting upon her shoulder, but his words were also drowned out by the frantic beating of her heart and the shallow gasping of her own breath. Something was said about how it was probably a mistake, a story concocted by an eager member of the paparazzi looking for a scoop at an otherwise boring charity ball. Or maybe it was a publicity stunt concocted by Iris, herself, in order to promote her latest book.

Whatever the reason, Avery didn't care. She was done. She wasn't going to let herself be jerked around by this – by _him –_ any longer. If Iris wanted Klaus, she could have him.

Clutching the newspaper in her hand, she got up from her seat and marched toward the door, ignoring the voices of Raeger and Lillie as they called after her. She sooner she got this over with, the better. She strode purposefully through town, not bothering to return any of the greetings bestowed upon her by the townsfolk and those visiting for the day to attend the Music Festival. She was on a mission, and she wasn't about to let herself change her mind about what had to be done.

 

* * *

 

Klaus chuckled as Iris told him about a conversation she's had with an eccentric mining mogul at the charity ball, surreptitiously checking the clock behind her before returning his attention fully to the conversation. He still needed to go see if Avery was feeling up to attending the Music Festival with him, but he didn't want to be rude and cut the conversation short in the middle of her story. As luck would have it, though, the very woman he'd been missing for the past three days walked into the antiques shop at that very moment.

"Avery, love, I was just about to-"

_SMACK!_

Klaus blinked in surprise at the slap that had connected with his face as soon as she reached him. He was about to ask what she was hitting him for, but she spoke up before he got a chance.

"You asshole!" she yelled at him, her voice trembling. "I believed in you! I loved you... I practically _gave myself_ to you! And this is what you do to me?"

She shook her head and turned to Iris, then, and her voice finally broke as she addressed the older woman.

"You win. You can have him. I don't care any more."

Klaus watched her leave, frozen by the mixture of shock and confusion he was feeling. _What_ had he done to her? Why was she so upset? And... had she just broken up with him?

"Klaus."

Mistel's normally quiet voice had taken on an urgent tone as he said his name, and Klaus looked to Iris' brother and found him holding out a badly crumpled newspaper toward him. He took it from him and began looking it over, his eyes going wide in horror when he saw what had been printed upon the page.

"Avery dropped it on her way out," Mistel explained, but Klaus didn't need him to. He'd already figured out what was going on.

"I need to talk to her," he told them before rushing out of the shop, still carrying the paper with him.

He looked about frantically, but she had already disappeared from the residential district. Thinking quickly, he started toward the path which led up the mountain, but then stopped halfway up the stairs and changed course to head into town. He knew she'd probably want to be left alone by him, so she wasn't about to return to her home. She'd go somewhere else, to someone else who would be able to put a barrier between the two of them: Raeger. He dreaded the idea of having to face the chef, knowing he cared for her almost as fiercely as he did, but perhaps he'd get lucky and be able to talk Avery's best friend into letting him see her for just a minute so he could explain things.

As luck would have it, though, he didn't even need to contend with the younger man. He had just passed Gunther and Corona's house when he spotted Avery slowly making her way through a crowd of tourists. He called her name and she instinctively looked back to see who was calling for her, but once she spotted him she quickened her steps and continued in the direction of the trade depot.

Klaus also hastened in his pursuit, alternately calling her name over the chattering of the crowd and apologizing to those he had to push his way past in order to continue following her. He watched her cut ahead of the line which had formed at the entrance of the trade depot and duck under the ropes Veronica had placed there in order to keep people out while things were still being set up, and he followed suit. Having finally caught up to her, he reached out and grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her, but she immediately twisted out of his grasp and turned on him.

"Don't touch me!" she cried, angry tears rolling down her cheeks. "You have _no right_ to touch me now!"

"Avery, let me explain-"

"No!" she cut him off, shaking her head. "I don't want to hear whatever bullshit you've concocted. Besides, nothing you can say will explain _that_ away."

She pointed to the newspaper in his hand and Klaus once more attempted to get her to listen to him, but she continued to shake her head as she backed away from him – right into the oncoming path of Asche's elephants.

"Avery!" he yelled her name and lunged forward to wrap his arms around her, pulling her to his chest and out of the way of the enormous creatures which were helping to set up the stage. Their owner quickly ran over to them and fussed over Avery, but Klaus assured the woman that she was alright and Asche apologized and bowed to them before returning to her task.

"You idiot," Klaus said to Avery, his voice holding no anger but shaking nonetheless from the intense fear he had just felt. "What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed."

He tightened his arms around her, holding her close, and bowed his head to breathe her in. He then kissed the top of her head and suddenly she began struggling to get away from him. Klaus didn't try to force her to remain in his arms, and instead let her go. She took a single step back from him and buried her face in her hands, sobbing quietly, and it was all he could do to keep himself from pulling her back into his arms so he could kiss away her tears.

"We need to talk," he finally said after a bit, his voice barely audible. Avery nodded and let out a short, mirthless laugh.

"No shit," she said as she looked up at him, her bottom lip trembling as she tried to hold her composure in order to stare angrily at him. She ended up losing that fight, though, and turned her gaze back toward the ground in front of her.

Klaus sighed and held out his hand to her, wordlessly asking her to go with him somewhere more private. Avery simply stared at his hand for a while, then hesitantly placed hers within it, and he dared to link his fingers with hers like he had so many other times. She tensed a bit at his actions, but didn't pull away, and Klaus waited until he finally felt her relax before gently pulling her back in the direction of town.

 

* * *

 

Avery hated herself. She had been determined to put an end to things with Klaus, but part of her – a really _big_ part of her – still had hope that they could work things out. She was still angry with him, though. That single photograph in the paper had more or less confirmed all of her worst fears, and yet...

She looked down to their hands as they wove their way through the crowd, and a sudden warmth filled her. Shutting her eyes tightly, she quickly pushed it away, reminding herself of the betrayal that had been written out for her in black and white under that photograph.

_He loves you_.

She shook her head against the little voice calling from somewhere deep in the back of her mind, and did her best to ignore the way those three simple words reverberated in her heart. She couldn't let herself believe that lie, no matter how much she wanted to. Not any more. The strange thing was that it was the normally rational part of her brain which seemed to keep telling her that Klaus loved her, while the more irrational side refused to believe it and insisted that he was nothing but a cheating bastard.

She opened her eyes just as the reached the steps leading to the residential district, and she held her breath as they drew nearer and nearer to Klaus' home. Soon, this would all be over with, and all she'd have left to remember him by would be the shattered remains of her heart. To her surprise, though, he turned toward Iris' house. She opened her mouth to question him, but all she was able to do was make tiny confused noises.

"We're not the only ones involved in this mess," he told her as he stopped before the door of the antiques shop and turned to her. She nodded slightly and he opened the door for her, allowing her to enter before him. Mistel looked up from his latest project to greet whoever had entered, then went deathly pale at the sight of the two of them.

"Where's yous sister?" Klaus asked, and Mistel nodded toward the stairs.

With a heavy sigh, he began heading upstairs to the apartment Iris and her brother shared, and Avery hesitated briefly before following in his wake. With each step she took, her heart felt heavier and heavier, and once she reached the top of the stairs the tears had all but started falling once more from her eyes.

"This ends _now_ , Iris," Klaus said, his tone stern. "I can't hide it from her any more. _Tell her_."

She heard Iris give a weary sigh before calling her name, but she refused to look up at either of them. Instead, she screwed her eyes shut and concentrated on her breathing as she balled the skirt of her dress in her fists. Klaus placed a hand on hr shoulder and she shrugged away from him, but he persisted until she finally raised her tear-streaked face to look at him. He gasped softly at the sight of her, and she saw his eyes fill with pain and regret.

"I know you don't trust me right now," he said quietly. "But I need you to. Please. Just hear what she has to say."

Avery sighed and wiped away her tears before looking toward Iris. She might be willing to give up Klaus, but she wouldn't give the other woman the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"All of this is my fault," Iris said, bowing her head in shame. "I know I never should have dragged Klaus into this and demand he keep it a secret."

"Keep _what_ a secret?" Avery asked angrily. "That you two have been fucking each other behind my back?"

"No, that I'm a lesbian," Iris replied, meeting her gaze. Avery almost laughed at how absurd the idea was that Iris Ingersson, the great romance novelist, was attracted to women... but then she saw the tears in the older woman's violet eyes.

"I'm not attracted to men," Iris continued, giving her a small smile, "and I've been hiding that about myself for a _long_ time. Lately, though, that's become... difficult. I hate living this lie, especially now that I've met someone who I might like to have an actual relationship with, and I've been rather depressed and conflicted recently. So I turned to Klaus, and I asked him not to tell anyone my secret – not even you."

"I... I don't..." Avery searched for any words to say, but nothing was coming to her. Her brain was a jumbled-up mess of thoughts and emotions ranging from relief to confusion. The most important things in her mind were that Klaus _wasn't_ cheating on her and he _did_ love her. But... Iris was a lesbian? How had she not seen that?

"I know, you had no idea," Iris said, laughing a little. "I've gotten quite good at hiding it. Trust me, though, Avery... If I was ever going to break the two of you up, it would be because I wanted _you_ , not Klaus."

Avery turned bright red at the idea of someone like Iris pursuing her. Not that she had a problem with the other woman's sexual orientation, but the fact that someone as successful and attractive as her would ever be interested in her was rather unexpected. Then again, Klaus had been interested in her, as well, and he was just as good-looking and probably as successful as Iris was, judging by the fact he bought her that locket without a second thought.

"But your novels," she finally blurted out, shaking her head.

"It's not like I've never been with a man, Avery," Iris told her. "In fact, I used to think I was straight, just unhappy with the men I'd chosen. Then I sort of... experimented a bit, and realized that the reason I'd never been happy was because I wasn't actually attracted to men at all."

"Why not just come out, though? Why hide it if hiding it is just bringing you pain?"

Iris tensed a bit, and let out a heavy sigh before answering the question. "I'm scared of how others will react. The people here in town... Most of them seem pretty open-minded. The majority have accepted Marian with open arms, and he's much more... extreme than I am. But there are still a few people who don't approve of his lifestyle. Then there's my fans. How many of them do you think will continue to purchase romance novels about heterosexual couples that were written by some dyke?"

She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself, and Avery felt even more horrible than she already did. Apparently, Iris had _already_ faced some sort of hate for being who she was.

"More than any of that, though," she continued after a moment of complete silence, "I'm worried about Mistel."

"You don't have to be."

Iris' eyes snapped open and Avery turned her head to find Mistel standing just behind her at the top of the stairs, tears streaking down his face. He wandered past her and over to where Iris was sitting, then knelt before her and took her hands in his.

"How much of that did you hear?" Iris asked him, a note of fear in her voice.

"All of it," Mistel admitted, shaking his head. "But I already knew."

"You did?"

Mistel nodded in response to his sister's question. "I had an inkling, anyway. I can count on one hand the number of men you've dated. You always gravitated more toward other women at parties, and usually blew off any men who approached you after humoring them for a bit. But then the whole thing with Klaus happened and I started thinking maybe I was wrong."

"So you've been suspicious all this time, too?" Avery asked him and he shrugged.

"Maybe not as long as you have, but he was here a couple of weeks ago, and when he left there was some pretty damning evidence in here: Rumpled sheets, his cravat on the floor, and I could tell Iris had just reapplied her makeup."

Klaus groaned and reached up to rub the back of his neck as he uttered the first words he had spoken since he demanded Iris come clean with Avery. "The day of your breakdown."

Iris sighed and nodded, looking from Mistel to Avery and back again. "I got myself so worked up and physically ill with worry over who I was going to the charity ball with that I broke down and just curled up on the bed and started crying uncontrollably."

"And the cravat?" Avery asked Klaus, and he looked at her.

"I took it off to keep her from making a mess of it. You should have seen her. Mascara all over her face, snot running everywhere... Normally, she's rather attractive but at that moment she was _not_ a pretty sight."

Iris yelled at Klaus and Avery smiled a little bit, finally feeling some of the weight lifting off of her. Still holding his gaze, she reached over and took his hand, then bit her lip nervously.

"Can we go somewhere to talk?" she asked him, and he nodded, then turned toward the others.

"Are you two going to be okay?" he asked them, and he and Avery both looked over to find Mistel hugging his sister.

"Yeah," Iris replied, nodding and smiling through her relieved tears. "I think we are. Thank you, Klaus. And, Avery... I am _so sorry_ for all of this. I didn't mean to create such a horrible misunderstanding."

"It's okay, Iris," Avery assured her. "And if you still need someone to talk to, I'm willing to listen, too."

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll probably be dumping my problems on my little brother from now on," Iris replied with a playful grin, causing Mistel to grumble in protest.

Avery nodded and gave Klaus' hand a small tug, then ushered him back downstairs and out of the shop. Without a word or even so much as looking at him, she led him the short distance to his house and, without her saying anything, he unlocked the door so they could go inside. She crossed the room to lean against the dining table as he locked the door, and by the time he had moved to stand behind her she was sobbing quietly.

"Avery? What's wrong?" he asked her, gently rubbing her back and making her cry even harder.

"I don't deserve you," she told him, shaking her head and causing the tears which had been sliding down her face to drop to the table in front of her. "I let my fear and my jealousy cloud my mind and control my thoughts. I should have had faith in you, and I didn't."

" _I'm_ the one who doesn't deserve _you_ ," he whispered to her as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder. "I shouldn't have hidden what was going on with Iris from you."

"You promised not to tell anyone," she reminded him, and he shook his head and held her even tighter.

"I almost lost you _twice_ today," he said, his voice strained and his breathing shaky. " _No_ secret is worth keeping if that's the price."

She turned slowly in his arms and looked up at his face, tear-streaked like her own, and reached up to place her arms around his neck. He closed his eyes and leaned forward until his forehead was touching hers, closing his eyes and crying quietly as they held one other.

"I need you, Avery," he finally said after several minutes had passed. "I love you, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I'm not... I don't think I'm ready for marriage, just yet, but someday..."

He pulled away from her just enough to look into her eyes, reaching up with one hand to brush her hair back from her face. "Someday, I hope to make you my wife... if you'll still have me, by then."

Avery nodded and pulled him closer until their lips met. His kiss was tentative, almost as though he was afraid to hurt her physically in addition to the emotional turmoil he'd caused her. She decided to take the initiative, increasing the pressure of her lips upon his while also teasing him with the tip of her tongue. When he finally met it with his own, she let out a soft moan to encourage him. He tightened his arms around her waist and lifted her up slightly, placing her upon the table behind her without breaking the contact of the kiss, though he didn't attempt to take things any farther.

"Do you need to hear me say that I forgive you?" Avery asked him between each gentle kiss. "I do. I forgive you, and I love you. I love you _so much_ , Klaus. And someday, I'm going to be the proudest and happiest woman alive because I will get to call you my husband."

Klaus reached up to take her face between his hands and kissed her again. It was still gentle like before, but her words had certainly seemed to ignite the spark within him because he immediately swept his tongue into her mouth and began to slowly explore her warmth as he pressed himself between her legs. Avery could feel him starting to stir and whimpered softly as she slid her hands up under his coat and coaxed it off over his shoulders. Klaus released her just long enough to allow the heavy coat to drop to the floor, then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her even harder against his growing erection.

"Klaus," Avery gasped as she broke the kiss, placing her hands upon his chest to keep him at bay while she caught her breath. Their eyes locked, and she saw that his earlier sadness had all but disappeared, though a tiny bit still seemed to remain.

"What is it, love?" he asked her with a gentle smile.

"We really should start getting ready for the Music Festival," she reminded him, biting her lip. She hated to put an end to things, especially considering that – after what they had just been through – they both really needed it, but there was no telling what people would think if they didn't show up.

"Let's skip it," Klaus told her, tracing her bottom lip with his thumb. "Right now, I just really need to be alone with you."

Avery nodded and slid her arms around her neck, shyly looking down to where he was standing between her legs, then raised her eyes to meet his once more.

"Should we head over to the bed?" she suggested, and Klaus leaned forward to kiss her softly.

"Do _you_ think we should?"

"The bed's a hell of a lot more comfortable than this table," Avery pointed out, and Klaus chuckled as he adjusted his grip on her and lifted her up off the table. Avery wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her, their eyes never leaving each other's gaze.

"Don't let me go," she told him, her quiet whisper holding so much more meaning than a simple warning to not drop her on his hardwood floor.

"I won't," Klaus assured her, shaking his head a little. "I promise. I'm never going to let you go, Avery."


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally only going to have one character from A New Beginning making an appearance, but instead you all get two! More of them will be making an appearance in a couple of future chapters, so if you're a fan of that particular game in the Harvest Moon series... Rejoice!

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Avery yawned as she cooked eggs and grits in her small kitchen, a kettle of water heating up on the back burner of her stove. She hadn't slept much the previous night, thanks to a certain someone who stayed with her at her farmhouse. She'd gotten up extra-early simply because she was sick of tossing and turning, and by the time she would have usually gotten out of bed she'd already tended to her crops and moved on to taking care of her animals.

"Mmm... Smells delicious," Klaus said as he wrapped his arms around her waist while standing behind her, leaning down to nuzzle her neck. "And _you_ smell good, too."

Avery shivered a little as his hair – still damp from having recently bathed – brushed against her ear. With a soft sigh, she leaned back against him and grabbed a handful of cheese she'd grated off a block she kept in her fridge, then tossed it into the grits.

"You _do_ realize people are going to talk, once it gets around that you spent the night here, right?"

Klaus chuckled quietly and kissed her neck. "Let them talk, love. Most of them already thought we had sex the day of the concert."

Avery grunted a little and began stirring the pot of grits more vigorously. She knew quite well what people assumed had happened between her and Klaus that day. Granted, it probably _would_ have happened that way had she not been so sleep deprived that she'd barely been able to keep her eyes open once he had her on his bed. She had assured him she was okay to proceed – which even she knew was entirely unconvincing since half of the statement was drowned out by a loud yawn – but he'd insisted they just rest together instead.

She'd fallen asleep in his arms, and when she woke up later that afternoon she found he was still out and watched him sleep for a while before kissing him awake. The two of them had then freshened up and gone into town to have dinner at Raeger's restaurant, and if the slight cold shoulder they'd gotten from Veronica when they greeted her outside of Town Hall hadn't been enough of a tip-off as to what the residents of Oak Tree Town had believed happened between them, then Raeger's knowing smirk would have told them.

The next three days had been spent explaining what had _really_ happened to everyone in town, and while their closest friends and most of the other residents had believed them and laughed at how much things had gotten blown out of proportion, there were still a few who doubted that things had been so innocent as they really were. The one exception had been Iris who – seemingly back to feeling much more like her usual self – had believed them but still continued to tease the two of them as though they actually _had_ been having sex but were just making up some sort of excuse to hide it.

"You know, I sort of wish we'd actually gone," Avery lamented, turning her attention to the eggs. "You heard about who were named the Sweethearts this year, right?"

Klaus chuckled once more and released her to move the now-whistling kettle off the back burner. "I imagine that would have been quite the sight to see, the three of them dancing together."

"I think it would have been sweet," Avery mused, pointing up to the cabinet where she kept her coffee mugs. "I imagine Cam was probably holding little Lucy while he and his wife were dancing together."

She let out a wistful sigh and Klaus pulled down a couple of mugs before going over to her and raising a hand to turn her face toward his. He leaned down and kissed her, then brought his lips to her ear to whisper something.

"Give it a couple of years, love, and that will be us."

Avery smiled, blushing a little at the thought of dancing with Klaus while he held their child, and turned off the stove. She fixed their plates while he made coffee for the two of them, and soon they were sitting together at her table having breakfast. She couldn't help but think how natural the situation felt, the two of them sharing a meal in her home as if they were already a married couple.

"How did you sleep?" he asked her suddenly, no doubt having noticed the way she was constantly twisting in her seat in a vain attempt to work out the kinks in her back.

"Fine," she lied, and he frowned at her until she sighed in defeat. "Like shit, actually. That couch really isn't comfortable to sleep on, at all. I'm thinking I'll get a new one after Gunther finishes the upstairs addition."

"I _offered_ to sleep on the couch last night," he reminded her, and she shook her head.

"That couch was almost too small for _me_ to lay down on. You never would have fit."

"Then you should have joined me in the bed," he remarked with a smirk and a wink.

"You and I both know what would have happened if I'd done that."

"Would that have been such a bad thing?" he wondered.

"You were drunk, Klaus," she told him flatly.

"I was _not_ drunk," he argued. "I'd just had a bit too much wine and was having trouble walking straight."

Avery laughed. "That's the very _definition_ of being drunk!"

"So what if I _was_ drunk?" he asked her, setting his fork down and folding his hands together before him so he could prop his chin upon them as he looked at her across the table. "Do you doubt that I would have been able to perform in that state?"

"No... I have _no_ doubts that you would have been fully capable last night," she replied, blushing as she recalled just how hard he'd been when he had her pinned down on the couch while they'd been fooling around shortly before retiring for the night. "But would you really have been at your peak in that state, Mr. I-want-your-first-time-to-be-perfect?"

Klaus made a thoughtful sound. "Fair point. In fact, a lot of what happened as the night went on is a bit fuzzy. Perhaps you'd care to remind me?"

Avery's face turned even hotter and she had to avert her eyes away from his gaze, causing him to chuckle. She knew he was bluffing about not remembering and using it as a way to get her to talk dirty to him – something she was still getting used to but had effortlessly slipped into doing the previous night thanks to her own inebriated state, much to her embarrassment.

"Hey," he said after a moment, and waited until she finally looked up at him once more before continuing. "I didn't push you too far last night, did I? I mean... I hope I didn't take advantage of the situation too much."

Avery shook her head. "I kind of liked it, actually."

"Really?" Klaus wondered, one of his dark eyebrows quirking upward in surprise.

She nodded, averting her gaze once more. She hated to admit it, but she'd been incredibly turned-on when he'd gotten a little more demanding than usual with her. Things had started out just like before, but he'd stopped mid-way and refused to continue until she begged him for _exactly_ what she wanted him to do to her. She'd been reluctant to say at first, but after seeing the intensity of the love and passion in his eyes she'd given in and – thanks to the alcohol – she had no problem in giving him quite detailed instructions concerning what she liked. Then he'd asked her to touch him, too, and she hadn't hesitated one bit to do so.

"Next time, though," she said quietly as she scooped up some of her cheesy grits onto her fork, "I don't want to be doing it blind."

"If I had been naked, too, love, then I wouldn't have been able to restrain myself," he told her, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "It was hard enough as it was, with how good it felt to have you touching me like that."

"It certainly was hard," Avery quipped, raising her eyes to his and smirking a little.

" _Was_?" Klaus said, giving her a wink, and Avery let out a small laugh at the implication of his statement. She was about to come back with a teasing remark about how he was going to have to take care of it himself, this time, but a knock at the door interrupted them.

"It's a bit early for visitors, isn't it?" Klaus wondered, looking to the clock as Avery stood and went to the door to answer it.

"Who's there?" she called through the door, thinking it was probably Marian looking for Klaus since he hadn't been at home for their usual morning chat over coffee. If it was the doctor she would tell him off and leave him outside to wonder what was going on. Though the more she thought about it the more that seemed like a _very_ bad idea, since Marian was likely to draw certain conclusions and then she and Klaus would have to diffuse yet _another_ rumor about them having sex.

Before the person outside could answer, she pulled open the door and blinked in surprise at who she found standing there. He was quite tall – perhaps even a little taller than Klaus – with dark skin and white hair which fell over the front of his right shoulder in a long braid. He was well-dressed, his clothing suggesting that he came from some far-off land, and smiled politely as he bowed to her and held out an envelope in both hands.

"Miss Avery, I am Sanjay – loyal servant to Prince Amir Ranjit Raj Singh – and I beg your forgiveness for intruding upon your home at such an early hour, but I was asked to bring you this invitation to my master's wedding to your beloved cousin, Miss Adelia."

Avery continued blinking in surprise at the young man before her. He was, indeed, the servant of her cousin's fiance that Addie had mentioned numerous times in her letters, but not even those descriptions had been able to prepare her for the formality with which he was addressing her.

"Um... Thanks," she said awkwardly as she took the invitation from him.

"Master Amir has asked that I request your presence in Echo Village for the two days prior to the ceremony, as well, so that you may serve as Miss Adelia's maid of honor," Sanjay added, straightening back up to his full height. "He has also asked me to tell you that you should invite Master Klaus as your personal guest for the festivities."

"Of course," Avery assured him, nodding and smiling a bit. "So when have they finally set the date for?"

"The twentieth of this season," Sanjay informed her as she was removing the invitation from the envelope to check for herself. She froze with it still halfway in the envelope and looked up into his deep violet eyes, hers wide with shock.

"That's _one week_ from today!"

Sanjay gave her an apologetic smile. "Forgive the abruptness, Miss Avery, but Master Amir does not wish to wait any longer to make Miss Adelia his bride. He has been waiting for quite a long time, as it is."

Avery laughed a little, recalling a letter she'd received the previous year from her cousin in which she had ranted about how the prince had flat-out told her he intended to marry her even though they barely knew each other at that point.

"I understand," she assured Sanjay, reaching out to gently squeeze his arm to let him know she wasn't angry at him for bringing her the news of the wedding with such short notice. His cheeks immediately turned bright red, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at how cute and awkward he looked.

"Tell Amir that I will be honored to attend the wedding as Addie's maid of honor, and that I will do my best to bring Klaus with me."

"Oh, I'm going," Klaus said from behind her. "I'll let my clients know tomorrow that I won't be coming back into the city on Sunday so they don't have a fit when I'm a no-show."

"In that case, let him know Klaus will be attending, as well," she told Sanjay, and the servant bowed to both of them before heading toward the path leading away from the farm and down the mountain. He had to step aside, however, when Marian came storming toward the farm.

"Just great," Avery groaned as she watched Sanjay bow in apology to Marian for having nearly run into him, and Marian checking Sanjay out in return as he continued on his way.

"Why don't we just lock the door and pretend we're not here?" Klaus suggested, his thoughts having obviously gone to the same place hers did in regards to the confrontation they were about to have with the doctor.

"Avery!" Marian cried out her name as he waved one arm about frantically above his head, quickening his pace as much as he was able to in his heels. When he finally reached the front door of her farmhouse he was doubled over and out of breath, bracing his hands on his thighs.

"Marian, what's wrong?" Klaus wondered, stepping around her and placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"I need your help," Marian told Avery as he looked up at her, his face stricken with worry.

"Sure," Avery agreed, nodding. "I mean... if I _can_ help, I will. What's going on?"

"It's the Fashion Show today, and I need a model," Marian said. "The girl I was going to use got sick, and you're about the same size as her so I was hoping you'd do it for me."

" _That's_ what this is about?" Klaus asked with an annoyed sigh, dropping his hand back down to his side. "Goddess, Marian, I thought there was an actual _emergency_."

"This _is_ an emergency, Klaus!" Marian insisted, turning to look at him. "If I don't have a model for the show, I'll have to forfeit!"

"Why me, though?" Avery wondered. "There are other girls in town who are much prettier than I am."

"You're the only one tiny enough for the outfit I made."

Avery sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You mean I'm the only one _short_ enough for the outfit you made."

Marian shrugged and smiled a little. "Yeah, but I was trying to make it sound like a compliment."

Avery remained silent for a bit, contemplating the situation. She didn't want Marian to have to forfeit after he'd worked so hard on making an outfit to enter into the competition, but she still had her doubts about how good of a model she'd make and she knew the judge took the models into consideration as much as he did the clothes they were wearing when making his decision. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and rocked up and down on the balls of her feet as she twisted the invitation she was still holding in her hands and looked to Klaus.

"It's up to you, love," he told her, and she let out a sigh as she turned back to Marian.

"Are you _sure_ you want me to do it?" she asked him. "I'm not exactly model material, you know."

"Oh, don't worry, sweetie," Marian assured her with a cocky grin. "I've got a _master_ waiting who will make you look like the most glamorous vixen who ever set foot on a catwalk."

"Fine," Avery finally agreed. "I'll be your model. Let me just get things cleaned up from breakfast here and we can get going."

Marian squealed and clapped his hands together excitedly, then threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly for a moment before letting go, and he offered to help her clean up as he followed her into her house. Klaus bought up the rear, closing the door, and the two of them nervously watched the doctor as he took stock of things and realization finally settled in.

"Wait," he said, looking from the to breakfast plates on the table to Klaus, then back to the table and to Avery before finally turning to Klaus once more.

"You spent the night?!" he excitedly asked, going over to Klaus and laughing merrily as he hugged him. "This is wonderful! So you two finally did it!"

"No," Klaus informed him with a straight face, shaking his head.

"Klaus was drunk and could barely walk straight so I insisted he spend the night here," Avery explained as she started to gather up the dishes from the table.

"She was worried I'd wander off the path and drown in the pond," Klaus added with an amused smile.

"Pfft... Honey, I've seen him so drunk he could barely _stand_ , let alone walk," Marian said, waving off the notion. "He's always made it home just fine."

"Cut her a little slack, Marian," Klaus requested, crossing the room to Avery – who was now blushing – and kissing her softly as he took some of the dishes from her to lighten the load. "She didn't want anything bad to happen to me."

"Or maybe she just wanted you in her bed last night, drunk and vulnerable," Marian teased, grinning and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I slept on the couch," Avery informed him as she and Klaus placed the dishes in the sink and she went to the stove to retrieve the empty pot and skillet she'd used to cook their meal.

"Wait... _You_ slept on the couch, and _he_ slept in the bed? _Alone_?"

"Yep," Klaus said, retrieving his coat from the back of the couch in question, where he'd laid it the previous night.

Marian looked back and forth between the two of them, his mouth agape. "I'm starting to think you two are _never_ going to have sex."

Klaus chuckled and turned him around, ushering him back out the door, then waited for Avery to slip on her boots and held out a hand to her which she took as she joined him and they left her home together. Once she had locked the front door, Marian began rushing them into town, once more in panic mode over the Fashion Show and seemingly having forgotten completely about the conversation they'd all just been having. Klaus smiled at Avery and squeezed her hand when her worried brown eyes met his gaze, silently reassuring her that everything was going to be fine.

"Here," Marian said once they reached the large tent which had been set up to the side of the trade depot to serve as makeshift dressing rooms for the models who would be participating in the competition. "Klaus, you can come in, too."

He held open the flap covering the tent's entrance and waves Avery and Klaus inside, then entered behind them and directed them toward the first section on the left which had been blocked off. Avery felt more nervous with each step she took, and when she saw the young man leaning against the dressing table as they entered Marian's section her apprehension increased tenfold. He was probably a few years older than herself, with dark red hair and bright blue eyes framed by stylish black glasses. It wasn't his appearance which bothered her – though she thought he was quite handsome – nor was it the stylish way he was dressed... It was the pair of scissors he was wearing in a holster on his right leg, almost like it was a gun.

"I... I don't know if I can do this," she said as she started backpedaling, but Marian stepped behind her and grasped her by her upper arms to prevent her from escaping.

"You'll be just fine, sweetie," Marian assured her.

"But my cousin is getting married next week and I'm supposed to be her maid of honor!" Avery protested. "I don't want some guy messing up my hair before that."

"Your cousin?" the redheaded man asked, taking his glasses off and looking at her with a more critical gaze. "Okay, yeah... I see it. You _do_ look a lot like Addie, now that I think about it. Hair's a slightly different shade, but just as limp and lifeless."

Avery let out an annoyed sigh and closed her eyes. "You must be Allen. Addie's told me about you in her letters."

"Well, it's good to know my reputation precedes me," Allen said with a cocky grin as he slid his glasses back on and turned the swiveling chair in front of the dressing table toward her. "Hop on in and I'll show you just how right she was."

"She never said anything about you being a good hairdresser," Avery remarked with a smirk. "She just told me what a superficial, conceited ass you are."

"Like I've never heard _that_ before," Allen replied, scoffing a bit as he glanced briefly at Marian. "Didn't she tell you I was the one who helped her deal with being without her precious prince for an entire season last year?"

"In your own, slightly condescending way, yes."

"Hey!" Allen shouted, pulling the scissors from their holster and pointing them at her. "That's slander! I was in _no way_ condescending toward her. I was genuinely worried about her."

"He was," Marian confirmed. "It was sweet, seeing him fawn over her like that."

"You say that now, but you were sure as hell jealous about all the attention I was paying her back then, weren't you, Marian?" Allen asked the doctor, cocking his head to one side and smirking devilishly, causing Marian's cheeks to flush. Avery looked back and forth between them two of them before turning to Klaus, who had wrapped his arms around himself and was holding one of his hands against his mouth in a fist to contain his laughter.

"Am I missing something, here?" she asked him. Klaus lowered his hand and smirked, then winked at her.

"How were those madelines, Allen?" he called to the hairdresser, and Allen turned wide blue eyes to him with his cheeks burning the same color as his hair.

Avery giggled at the sight, now realizing that Allen was the person Marian had been hoping to confess to on White Day. She still wasn't sure if the two of them were actually together or not, though, since Allen's teasing could have just as easily been that of a close friend who was giving Marian a hard time for previously hitting on him – much like Klaus occasionally did. Either way, though, it was apparent that Allen and Marian were still on good terms with one another, at least.

"So are we doing this or not?" Allen asked, clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment and gesturing to the empty chair next to him.

Avery hesitated but, reminding herself how much this meant to Marian, she steeled herself and took a step toward the chair. As long as she set down some ground rules on what she didn't want done to her hair, she was sure things would turn out all right.

"Klaus? Is that you?"

All four of them turned toward the entrance of Marian's section, and Klaus and Marian both visibly stiffened when they saw who was standing there. The woman was thin and tall – almost as tall as Klaus, Avery noticed when she walked up to him – and had perfect olive skin and incredibly long black hair which shone under the lights in the room. In contrast, her eyes were a startlingly light shade of blue, and were made to further stand out by the long, thick eyelashes which framed them.

"Rebecca," Klaus greeted her with a single nod of his head.

"It's so wonderful to see you!" Rebecca said, reaching out to touch his shoulder, and Avery felt her hands tighten into fists for some reason. "It's been, what? Almost ten years now?"

"Almost," Klaus replied with another short nod.

"Wow," she breathed out the word as her eyes unabashedly roamed over his form, her crimson-stained lips turning upward into a seductive smile. "You look good."

"You, too," Klaus said, though Avery could tell he was just trying to be polite. His body language was making it _quite_ clear that he didn't want to be anywhere near this woman, whoever she was.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, her voice pitching up a bit in excitement. Klaus simply nodded toward where Marian still had a hold of Avery.

"Oh, right," she said a bit dismissively as she looked briefly at Marian before focusing once more upon Klaus. "I forgot the two of you were friends."

"And you?" he wondered.

"Giorgio always bugs me every year about how much he wishes I could be here to watch him show off his latest 'masterpiece of fashion,'" Rebecca replied, rolling her eyes. "So, since I wasn't busy this year I decided I'd do him one better and model for him."

"That's nice," Klaus said, then cleared his throat and turned toward Marian. "Look, I'd hate to get in your way so I'm going to head out and wait with the others."

"Oh, that's fine," Marian told him, his smile reflecting the tension Avery could feel in the room. Klaus' attention then turned toward her.

"Good luck out there," he told her before turning and heading back out, and Avery wanted to run after him and find out what was going on. She'd seen so much pain in his eyes when he'd spoken to her and that, coupled with the obvious discomfort both he and Marian had exhibited at Rebecca's arrival had thrown her for a bit of a loop.

"Fucking skank slut," Marian angrily muttered after Rebecca left without saying another word to another of them once Klaus was gone. "The _nerve_ of that woman, walking up to him and acting like nothing ever happened."

Something finally clicked in Avery's mind. Klaus had said the woman he dated before her – the one who broke his heart – had been a model. He'd never mentioned a name, though, but she had no doubt this Rebecca was the one. Her blood boiled even more than it already had when the other woman touched him. Marian was right: how the hell could she act like things were just fine between them after what she did to him? Moreover, Avery was pretty sure she'd been coming on to Klaus and – judging by the way she'd been talking about him wanting her to come to the festival every year – it seemed like she might also be the fiancee that Giogrio had mentioned to her numerous times.

Without another word, she twisted out of Marian's grasp and marched over to the chair at the dressing table, then sat down in it with an angry scowl on her face.

"Don't chop off all of my hair, and don't permanently dye it any weird colors," she instructed Allen without looking at him. "Other than that, do whatever you want with me."

Allen chuckled as he turned the chair back toward the mirror once more and stepped on the lever at the bottom a few times to bring her closer to the proper height for him to work on her. Marian also laughed and went to stand in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the table, smirking at her.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" he asked, and Avery looked up at him with eyes full of determination.

"Someone needs to put that scrawny bitch in her place for what she did to Klaus."


	26. Chapter Twenty-Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a very casual person when it comes to clothing, so writing this chapter was hard for me because I really know nothing about fashion. Hopefully I did a passable job.
> 
> Oh! And for those who don't know: aubergine is a very dark shade of purple - basically the color of the skin on an eggplant.
> 
> Also, for the sake of clarification: The Rebecca in this story is NOT the same Rebecca from Harvest Moon: A New Beginning. They're two totally different women who just happen to have the same name.

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

The crowd at the Fall Fashion Show was larger than Avery had _ever_ seen at the previous ones she'd been to. Perhaps she was just imagining it and it only _seemed_ larger because of her nerves, but maybe the show was starting to gain more attention – like some of the other festivals which were held – due to the town's increasing popularity as a quaint tourist destination for those who lived in the city. However, she knew that the _real_ reason for the number of people attending the show was likely the woman standing not five feet away from her.

She turned to look at the other models lined up backstage, feeling her confidence dwindle even more as her attention moved down the line. All of them were at least a good six inches taller than her, with perfect bodies and flawless skin and hair. That was to be expected, though, since they were all professionals. She was just a stand-in for the one Marian had originally wanted to wear his outfit in the show. He'd said she was the only in town the same size as the model he made it for but, considering the others who were to be in the show _and_ the outfit he'd made, Avery could help wondering if his original model had been a child rather than a fully-grown woman.

"Ready?" Marian asked as he came up behind her and carefully rested his hands upon her shoulders. Avery craned her neck to look up at him, shaking her head.

"No... I'm really not," she said, laughing nervously. "But I said I'd do this for you, so I'm not going back on my word now."

"You'll be great," he assured her, leading her to her spot in line as Veronica began ordering everyone backstage to take their places. "Just remember what I told you, and don't forget to use the parasol."

Avery frowned at the frilly parasol Marian had given her as part of the ensemble she was wearing, then looked up at the doctor with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Do I really need this?" she asked him. "I mean, I already look more like a damn _doll_ than a model in this dress."

"Yes, you do," Marian insisted. "It completes the look. And you're _supposed_ to look like a doll. That's the entire point."

Avery sighed heavily and nodded, her shoulders slumping a bit, and Marian gave her an encouraging smile just as Veronica called for the designers to join her for their pre-show introductions.

"You're gorgeous, honey," he told her with a wink, raising his hands like the claws of a wild animal as he backed away from her toward where Veronica was waiting. "Be fierce!"

"Fierce... Right," Avery muttered under her breath, looking to her left and suddenly going very stiff. She hadn't realized it before, but the ordering of the models had placed her directly next to Rebecca in line. She clenched her hands into fists to stop herself from grabbing the other woman and demanding an explanation for why she'd been acting so casually flirty toward Klaus earlier, and closed her eyes to take a deep breath and calm her nerves while she listened to Veronica introducing each of the designers being featured in the show to the audience.

Soon she heard the steadily-thumping bass line of the song which had been selected for the presentation, and when she opened her eyes once more she was ready. This would be for Marian, but it was also for Klaus. She'd show everyone she was better for him than the bitch ahead of her ever had been, once and for all.

 

* * *

 

Klaus only heard parts of the conversation going on around him as he sat in the audience at the very end of the runway which had been set up in the trade depot for the fashion show. Ever since he told the two people sitting next to him that the reason for Avery's absence had been because she was participating in the show as Marian's model, it was all they could talk about.

Raeger had found it amusing that Marian would choose someone so far from 'modelesque' to act as his replacement for the girl who hadn't shown up – a sentiment which Elise loudly agreed with, adding in that _she_ would have been a _much_ better choice. Lillie had scolded him for saying such things, telling him that she found Avery to be very pretty and he just couldn't see it because the two of them were nothing more than friends. Raeger then argued that he didn't say she wasn't pretty, just that she didn't have the normal build of a model, being as short as she was. Lillie attempted to once more defend Avery, but the young chef cut off her statement with a quick kiss while her father's back was turned.

Sitting on his other side, Iris was reassuring him that Avery was going to do just fine and that he shouldn't worry about her. He knew he must have looked troubled from the expression of her face when he first sat down next to her, but he couldn't tell her the _real_ reason he felt that way. The only two people in town who knew anything about his prior relationship with Rebecca were Marian and Avery, after all, and he really wanted to keep it that way. A part of him wanted to tell her anyway, just so he could have someone to commiserate with regarding the situation, but he simply remained quiet because he knew that only one thing would _truly_ help him feel better, and Avery wasn't right next to him at the moment.

Soon Veronica stepped out onto the stage, along with the four designers who were competing, and Klaus clapped politely as she introduced each one. His enthusiasm didn't even increase when Marian's name was called, which Iris noticed and jabbed her elbow into his side in order to prompt him to clap a bit harder for his best friend. Once the introductions had been made, Veronica announced the theme for the show and slipped backstage once more. Soon the music selection for the show began to play loudly over the crowd, and Klaus braced himself for what was to come. He'd chosen to sit as close to the end of the catwalk as possible in order to get the best view he could when Avery had her turn, but in doing so he'd also put himself in a prime position to be confronted by his past again, as well.

The first young woman was wearing an outfit by someone from out-of-town: a casual, yet pretty ensemble of a ruffly miniskirt and jacket made from lavender-colored denim with a frilly white top underneath. She stopped at the end of the runway and slipped off her jacket like a pro, holding it on one finger as she tossed it back over her shoulder and turned for the audience and the judge of the entire affair to get a good look at what she was wearing.

The second model was also showing off the design skills of an out-of-towner, wearing a form-fitting, shot-sleeved dress which had been entirely knitted out of purple yarn. The dress reached just to above the model's knee, though she was also wearing dark stockings underneath and therefore wasn't showing off nearly as much skin as the previous girl. Iris leaned over and said something to him about how plain the first two outfits were, and Klaus nodded slightly. No one from out of town stood a chance of winning when they were being put up against the likes of both Giorgio and Marian.

Next came the moment he had been dreading. He recognized her even in profile as she came out from behind the curtain concealing the waiting models, and his stomach twisted itself into knots as he watched her approach the end of the walkway. Her walk was perfect, and Klaus had to at least give her some credit for that. She might have gotten to where she was through manipulation, but she really was good at what she did. She still seemed to have a nasty habit of making sure everything was about _her_ though, as he noticed most of the people around him were talking about how good-looking she was rather than commenting on the dress she was wearing. It was a long, strapless evening gown with a plunging neckline made of shimmery fabric which seemed to change color from purple to black depending upon how the light hit it, accented with at least a hundred rhinestones Klaus was sure Giorgio had to have sewn on by hand in order to avoid ruining the way the delicate fabric fell. Effectively, Rebecca looked as though she was wearing a nighttime sky full of stars wrapped around her body.

When she reached the end of the catwalk, she immediately caught Klaus' eye and made a point of holding her leg out through the side slit in the long gown right in front of him, as though she was trying to entice him with her body. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing himself to clap along with the others instead of clenching his hands into fists the way he so wanted to, and it wasn't until he heard Iris gasp sharply next to him that he finally looked at the runway once more.

"Holy shit, is that really Avery?" Raeger asked next to him, completely in awe.

Klaus barely recognized her. Her hair had been pulled up into two pigtails and curled to frame her face, which wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that Allen had also dyed her hair aubergine – presumably to match the dress she was wearing. The dress itself looked like a cross between something a maid would wear and an outfit one might find on an antique doll, sporting puffy sleeves and a full, lacy skirt with more ruffles than Klaus dared to count. The skirt of the dress reached about halfway down Avery's thighs, and Klaus could clearly see the garters underneath which were holding up her black stockings.

"Well, I'm jealous," Iris said to him with a smile. "I wish I had _my_ own little lolita to take home with me."

"She's so cute!" Lillie added, bouncing a little in her seat. "Like a doll!"

Klaus found the young woman's assessment spot-on, as the closer Avery got to where he was sitting the better he could see her. Not only had Allen dyed her hair, but he'd also done her makeup in a manner that made her actually _look_ like a porcelain doll. She began twirling the closed parasol in she was carrying in front of her as she walked farther along the catwalk, and when she stopped at the end she finally popped it open and spun it in front of her a few times before resting it upon her shoulder. Her eyes seemed to search the audience as she continued to twirl the parasol, and as soon as she found him she smiled and blew him a kiss before heading back the way she'd come to the sound of loud cheering from everybody seated around him.

Next came time for the judging, and while the expert designer who volunteered twice a year to judge their little town's fashion show was making his decision, Klaus stood and excused himself from the company of those he had been sitting with. Whatever the outcome, he wanted to be as close as possible to the stage so that when the show was over he could finally hold Avery in his arms again and forget about the negative parts of his morning.

"Thank you all for waiting," Veronica said loudly over the din of the crowd, raising her hands high up into the air to get the attention of everyone in the audience. "Our judge has made his decision regarding the winner of this year's Fall Fashion Show. Mr. Del Cossa, if you please..."

She stepped aside to let the famous designer take center stage, and Klaus found himself holding his breath as he looked to where Marian and Avery were standing together waiting for the results with the other designers and their models. Avery looked incredibly nervous, tightly clutching the skirt of the dress she had on in her hands while Marian appeared to be rubbing her shoulders and consoling her as best he could considering his own nerves.

"First, I would like to thank all of you for participating," Del Cossa told all of the designers. "Every one of you deserves a round of applause for having the bravery to put a part of your soul out there for the world to see. That said, there were two stand-out entries this year which were so equally spectacular in their own ways that I had a hard time deciding which outfit I liked better. So, in the end, it came down to how the models themselves presented the creations of their respective designers."

Klaus swallowed nervously and glanced over to Giorgio and Rebecca. She was looking smug, knowing her superiority as an internationally-renowned fashion model was likely going to get her the win, but Giorgio actually seemed worried as he looked over to Marian and Avery. Klaus' gaze returned to them, as well, and he found both of them had their eyes shut tightly and they were quietly muttering to themselves – probably saying some sort of last-minute prayer to the Harvest Goddess to ask for her favor.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Del Cossa continued. "I am happy to announce the winner of the seventh annual Oak Tree Town Fall Fashion Show is... Marian!"

Klaus grinned as Marian and Avery both cried out triumphantly and hugged each other, and laughed a bit when Marian picked her up off the ground – still hugging her – to carry her to where Del Cossa was standing, waiting to give him his prize. Marian thanked the designer and kissed him, then turned toward the backstage area and gestured for Allen to join them in sharing the victory. The hairdresser strutted out onto the stage and bowed before the cheering crowd with a cocky grin, and Marian grabbed him by the lapels of his dark blue jacket and kissed him much the same way he had Del Cossa before leaning down and whispering something which made the redhead blush and swat at his chest as he pulled away.

"What are you waiting for?" he suddenly heard Raeger screaming over the rest of the crown. "Get up there and kiss her!"

He chuckled to himself and climbed the steps at the side of the stage, then walked right past Rebecca without even looking at her on his way to Avery. She lunged at him as soon as she saw him approaching, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him, and Klaus pulled away just enough to lean down and kiss her. Unlike Marian, though, he lingered far longer than what could be considered a mere kiss of triumphant joy and even picked her up and spun her around in his arms as their friends whistled and yelled in encouragement.

"I'm gonna kill Allen, you know," she tearfully said once they finally parted, causing him to laugh. He raised a hand and twirled some of her hair around his finger, examining the dark purple shade it had been turned into.

"This doesn't wash out, I take it?"

"He _swore_ it will, but he put so much of it in my hair I don't know how I'm ever going to get it all out in less than a week!" she lamented, hiding her face against his chest. "How am I supposed to be Addie's maid of honor when I look like a walking eggplant?"

"We'll figure something out, love," he assured her, tucking his hand under her chin and lifting it up until her gaze met his once more. "For now, however, allow me to say that you were amazing out there."

She blushed at the compliment and averted her gaze to his chest once more, then gasped sharply and looked back up to him, biting her lip.

"What's wrong?" he asked, continuing to play with her hair, and she merely gestured to his overcoat with her eyes. He looked down to see what was the matter and found that a good amount of the white makeup Allen had used on her face had rubbed off onto the dark green material. With a hearty chuckle, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her firmly against his chest, then kissed the top of her head.

"I don't care if my clothes get a little dirty," he told her, his grip on her growing even tighter when he noticed Rebecca watching the two of them. "But for now, why don't we head backstage and get the rest of that cleaned off your face, hm?"

She looked up at him and nodded, though her expression was a bit confused until she followed his line of sight and he felt her tense in his arms. He sighed and rested his head against hers, now knowing that she'd caught on to what had happened earlier in Marian's section of the dressing area, and told her he was okay. He knew she probably wasn't very convinced, judging by how she didn't relax at all in spite of his assurances, so he decided the best course of action was to get them both as far away from the fashion show and those involved in it as soon as possible.

"Come on, love," he instructed, finding one of her hands and taking it in his own in order to lead her back to where she had been earlier with Marian and Allen. As soon as she had washed the makeup off her face and changed her clothes, they would go home and he would never have to think about Rebecca again.

At least, that was how he _wanted_ things to transpire. Fate, however, seemed determined to be especially cruel to him on this day. Avery had insisted he wait outside while she changed because Marian's outfit had been designed in such a way that she hadn't been able to wear a bra and she didn't want him getting tempted to do something that could 'cause a scandal' if they were to be caught in the act, which he didn't mind. While he was waiting for her, though, the last person in the world he wanted to see came looking for him.

"There you are," she said, flashing that seductive smile which had drawn him in so easily before and made him believe she actually wanted to be with him.

"Good job out there," Klaus told her – just to be polite – averting his eyes to the ground and crossing his arms over his chest in the hope that she'd take a hint and leave him alone.

"Aww, don't be like that," Rebecca practically purred as she sidled up to him, pressing her ample chest against his upper arm.

"Those are new," he remarked, referring to her breasts. He meant for it to come across as insulting, but she merely pushed them more firmly against him and laughed.

"You like them? The guy I was dating before I met Giorgio got them for me."

Klaus scoffed a little, shaking his head. "Of course he did. I'll have you know, though, that I prefer women whose breasts _aren't_ man-made – like Avery."

Rebecca made a disgusted sound and began stroking his arm with one hand. "So you're with _her_ now, are you? Honestly, Klaus, I was shocked when I saw you kiss her."

"And why's that?" Klaus asked her, his tone turning defensive.

"She's not your type. You always had the most beautiful women in the city on your arm, and now here you are with this short, chubby, plain country girl."

"I think you're just jealous," Klaus accused.

"I _am_ jealous," Rebecca admitted, moving to stand in front of him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I've never forgotten how good you were, Klaus."

"What are you doing, Rebecca?" he asked, tensing.

"She can't please you the way I used to," she continued, ignoring his question, one of her hands sliding down his chest to grasp at his cravat. "A girl like that probably has no idea what she's doing in bed, after all. You need a _woman_ to give you the kind of pleasure you like."

"I love Avery," he told her firmly, his fingers digging into his arms. "And not that it's any of your damn business, but she pleases me just fine."

Rebecca laughed. "I bet the two of you haven't even had sex, have you?" Klaus tensed even more at her words and she laughed again. "I knew it! So... Why don't you and I meet up later and relive some of our fondest memories together?"

"No."

"Come on, Klaus," she cooed, wrapping her arms around his neck once more and pressing her body against his folded arms, resting her head against his shoulder to brush her lips against his neck as she spoke. "I know you miss it, too. We'll do everything you used to love. I'll suck your cock and let you fuck me hard like a wild animal. We can even tie each other up, if you want."

Klaus closed his eyes and swallowed hard, praying that she didn't notice that what she was saying actually had the effect she intended. The very idea of doing those things turned him on immensely, and she was right: he _did_ sometimes miss the wilder days of his youth. He loved Avery, though. So even though Rebecca had managed to get him aroused with the promise of what she'd let him do to her it wasn't her in his mind as he imagined doing all those things... it was Avery.

"What about Giorgio?" he asked, hoping that bringing up her fiance would make her leave him alone before Avery showed up and inevitably misread the situation.

"Do you think I actually _love_ that fop?" Rebecca replied, shuddering. "Sex with him is so _boring_. I only agreed to marry him because being with him raises my status in the industry significantly."

Klaus let out a bitter laugh. "And I'm guessing you're not always away because you're on some photo shoot, like he says?"

"Of course not," Rebecca replied, letting out a laugh of her own. "He has no idea about all the men I've had on the side. I'm a model, after all, and all men fantasize about fucking a model."

"You whore..."

Rebecca gasped, her entire body going stiff, and Klaus opened his eyes and turned his head to see Avery and Giorgio standing in the opening of the tent housing the dressing rooms.

"I'm sorry, Giorgio," Avery told her rival farmer, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. "I thought you should know."

"No, it's fine," Giorgio assured her, his eyes – still glued to Rebecca – starting to fill with tears. "Thank you for showing me this, Avery. I'm glad I found out now and not _after_ I married this two-timing bitch."

"Giorgio, sweetie," Rebecca said in a soothing voice as she pulled away from Klaus, "this isn't what you think-"

"Shut the fuck up, Rebecca," he cut off her poor attempt to talk her way out of the situation. "I've ignored the rumors, I even _defended_ you against them because I was stupid enough to believe that you really loved me. Now... I see that it was foolish of me to do so."

She went to him and attempted to touch his face, but he violently swatted her hand away.

"Do _not_ try that shit on me now," he told her, angry tears spilling down his cheeks. "We are _done_. _You_ are done. This engagement is off, and I will see to it that _every_ major designer blacklists you for the rest of your miserable life. Goodbye, Rebecca."

With that, he turned on his heel and strode back into the tent, leaving Avery standing by herself with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Oh, what's wrong?" she said with an exaggerated pout at she took in the horrified expression on the other woman's face. "Did the manipulative slut finally get what was coming to her?"

Klaus grinned at her as she stepped around Rebecca and walked up to him, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She pushed him away, though, and instead wrapped his arms around her waist as she leaned back against him.

"That was for what you did to Klaus, by the way," she told Rebecca. "I only regret that Giorgio ended up having to get hurt, too. Oh, wait... While we're on the subject of Klaus..."

She pulled out of his grasp and walked back over to Rebecca then reached up and tapped her on the shoulder, and as soon as Rebecca turned her head to look at her Avery punched her in the face.

" _That_ is for trying to have sex with my man!" she yelled, her voice trembling, and Klaus quickly stepped forward and put an arm around her shoulders to guide her away before things got completely out of hand.

"Take me home," she requested as she looked up at him, and Klaus was taken aback to see tears in her eyes. He nodded and kissed her softly, then eased his arm down her back and around her waist.

"Let's go home," he said as she snuggled against his side, both of her arms encircling his waist, and they continued to hold each other close all the way back to her farm.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick PSA: Please do not mix any medications with alcohol without first checking labels, kids! Follow Klaus' example!

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Klaus smiled to himself as he placed a few cubes of ice into a small hand towel and then ran the bundle briefly under some water at the kitchen sink, looking over to where Avery was sitting on her couch, gingerly holding her hand and whimpering. He'd been shocked at how she punched Rebecca, but it seems she had been just as surprised at her own actions as she'd kept tearfully repeating, 'I can't believe I just did that,' all the way back to her farmhouse.

"Here," he said, kneeling in front of her and gently taking her right hand in his. He placed the homemade ice pack onto her hand and she winced, pulling away instinctively from the cold at first before relaxing and allowing him to hold it there.

"They always make it look so easy," Avery said, looking from her hand over to the television nearby. Klaus chuckled.

"That's because they're not _actually_ punching people on TV, love," he told her, reaching up with one hand to pull away a piece of her dyed hair which was stuck at the corner of her mouth. "Trust me, I know quite well how much hitting someone really does hurt."

"I can't believe I did that," she repeated herself once more, shaking her head. "Addie used to punch people all the time when I got bullied as a kid, but... I've never hit a person before in my life!"

"Maybe I've been a bad influence on you," Klaus mused with a smirk, winking at her, and Avery was the one to laugh this time.

"Thug life, thug wife, huh?" she said, shaking her head. "Sorry, sweetie, but I don't think I'm ever going to be doing _that_ again."

Klaus continued to smile as he stood and placed a kiss to her forehead. "That's fine. I prefer to think of it as bad-assery by proxy, anyway, since I couldn't very well hit her no matter how much I wanted to."

Avery nodded. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied, giving her a curious look. It seemed like an odd thing for her to be saying so suddenly. He supposed she was still probably trying to explain to herself why she'd felt so compelled to hit Rebecca. It didn't sound much like an explanation, though. Something in her voice gave him the distinct feeling that there was more on her mind than simply the way her fist had made direct contact with another person's face. Leaning down, he cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up toward his, then kissed her softly.

"I'm going to go run you a bath," he told her once their lips had parted, still leaning over her. "Then I'll see if I can't get that dye washed out of your hair for you."

"I can wash my own hair," she quietly protested.

"I know, but doing it right now would likely cause you quite a bit of discomfort so I'm offering to do it _for_ you... okay?"

He kissed her once more, lingering a bit as he hoped that once she was back to looking more like herself that she would start feeling better. He also hoped, for Allen's sake, that the dye washed out like he promised because – unlike Rebecca – Allen was a man and he had no problem with hitting men. He would certainly see to it that the hairdresser paid if he ruined Avery's chance to shine at her cousin's upcoming wedding, even if he was Marian's latest object of infatuation.

"Speak of the devil," Klaus muttered to himself as he saw a familiar head of dark pink hair outside the front window of Avery's farmhouse. She gave him a confused look and he went to answer the door before Marian even had a chance to knock, surprising him.

"Klaus, is Avery okay?" he asked, his eyes wide in concern. "I heard about what happened."

"She's fine," Klaus assured him, noticing he had his medical bag with him as he stepped aside to let him into her home. "Her hand's a bit sore, and she's a little shaken up by what she did, but otherwise she's fine."

Marian marched right over to where Avery was sitting and took a seat next to her on the sofa, placing his bag at his feet on the floor and holding his hands out to her.

"May I?"

Avery nodded and held out her hand, which had turned a bit red from the coldness of the ice she'd been holding on it. Marian took it in both of his hands and gently felt the bones of her fingers, causing her to wince a little. He then asked her to try linking the fingers of both her hands together and to make a fist. Satisfied, he nodded and leaned down to his bag, opening it and pulling two bottles out from inside – one a small pill bottle, and the other a much larger bottle of some sort of pale green cream.

"Your hand isn't broken," Marian informed them, looking up to Klaus – who had moved to sit on the arm rest of the sofa next to Avery. "She did quite a number on Rebecca, you know."

"I know. I was there," Klaus told him, smiling proudly.

"How bad was it?" Avery wondered, drawing Marian's attention back to her.

"Black eye and a fractured cheek bone. Don't worry, though. It won't have any effect on her career, since she no longer _has_ one. Giorgio was already on the phone calling every designer he knows when I left to come up here and check on you."

"Is Giorgio okay?" Avery asked, wincing again even though Marian was no longer holding her hand.

"He's going to be just fine, sweetie," Marian assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "She's not the first person to use him. He'll probably be mopey for a few days, but then he'll bounce right back and be his old self again."

Avery nodded for a moment, then slouched down into the cushions of the sofa, looking frightened.

"What's wrong, love?" Klaus asked her, reaching over to stroke her hair.

"What if Rebecca presses charges?" she worried.

"She won't," he told her with a small chuckle, shaking his head.

"I broke her face, Klaus!"

"Rebecca may be a lot of things," Marian said with a sigh, "but she's not stupid. Klaus is right. She's not going to press charges."

"If she did, it would mean that you would have to give a reason for your actions," Klaus explained. "I'm sure she doesn't want the press getting wind of _why_ you hit her, lest her next potential victim read the article and catch on to her scheme."

Avery nodded slightly and Marian reached out to take her uninjured hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Even if she does, it would be your word against hers and everyone here in town would back you up. And by that, I mean we'd all lie to protect you."

"She swung first," Klaus said. "You were only trying to protect yourself from her attack."

"But she never even got the chance to try to hit me," Avery corrected, looking up to him.

"I know," he said, giving her a wink. "I was giving you an example of what sort of story we might all use to protect you in the off chance she _does_ decide to press charges."

"Oh," Avery simply said, looking at her hand and picking up the ice pack to place upon it once more.

"Here, take these," Marian instructed, holding the two bottles he'd removed from his bag out to her. When she made no move to take them, Klaus instead leaned forward and accepted both of them from him.

"Are these for her hand?" he asked, looking curiously at the larger of the two bottles.

"The one is medicine to help with the pain, yes," Marian instructed, picking up his bag from the floor and standing up. "The other is some special shampoo Allen asked me to give to Avery. He said it'll wash the dye right out of her hair, though it might take a couple of extra washings with as much as he put in. _Don't_ mix them up."

Klaus chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't."

"We're going out to celebrate in a bit," the doctor informed them, referring to himself and the hairdresser. "Might take Giorgio with us, too, to help cheer him up after what happened. You two are welcome to join us, if you'd like."

"I think we'll probably stay in for the rest of the day," Klaus politely declined, still looking at Avery sitting silently on her sofa. "Thank you for the offer, though."

Marian smiled and nodded, then called a goodbye over to Avery. When she still said nothing, he gave Klaus a concerned look, and Klaus shook his head a little in return to let his friend know he wasn't sure what was wrong but that he'd get to the bottom of it. He then let him out before returning to her side, stopping briefly to set the two bottles on her dining table. He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, lingering for a bit, then went to her bathroom and started to run the bath he'd promised her before Marian's arrival.

After checking the temperature to make sure it was suitably warm and not too hot, he put the stopper into the tub and added some bubble bath he'd noticed when he was in there earlier that morning and left the tub to fill. He returned to her kitchen and got her a glass of water, then retrieved two of the pain pills Marian had left and gave them to her. She took them, thanked him quietly, and handed back the glass once she'd finished off the water inside it. Klaus set the empty glass down on the table next to the sofa and reached for her left hand, using it to pull her to her feet. She went with him without protest, allowing him to lead her toward the bathroom, and once they reached their destination he took the ide pack from her and set it in the sink.

"Think you can undress by yourself, or do you need my help?" he asked her, smiling a little.

"I can do it," she said flatly, nodding her head, and Klaus sighed a bit and kissed her.

"I'll be right back, okay? I'm just going to get the shampoo Allen sent up."

He waited for her to nod again, then went back to her kitchen. Instead of simply grabbing the shampoo and returning to her, however, he began looking about in the cabinets and drawers of her kitchen. When he finally did go back to the bathroom a few minutes later, he had the bottle of shampoo tucked under one arm, along with some candles he'd found, and a glass of wine in one hand.

"Here," he said, offering the wine to her.

"Is this safe?" she wondered, looking from the glass to his face.

Klaus nodded, "I checked the bottle. Mixing the two might make you drowsy, but just one glass shouldn't be dangerous. Don't worry, if you do end up falling asleep I'm not going to let you drown in your tub."

"Good to know," Avery said with little enthusiasm as she took the wine from him and began drinking it as he went about setting up the candles around the room. Once he had them all lit, he turned off the lights, allowing the room to become illuminated only by their soft glow. He then took off his coat and cravat, laying them over the side of her laundry basket just inside the door, and went to kneel at the side of the tub.

"Turn around, love," he instructed her, and Avery maneuvered herself until her back was to him, moving slowly so as not to send the water splashing out over the side and onto the floor.

Klaus pushed her hair to one side and kissed her neck, drawing a soft sigh from her lips, then continued his way across her shoulder. With each small kiss placed upon her skin, she relaxed a little more – though it might have also been thanks in part to the pain medicine and the wine slowly starting to do their job, as well. Once he reached the slope of her shoulder he sat back and cupped both hands into the water, then raised them above her and let the water fall down from between his fingers like a gentle rain on top of her head. He repeated the action several more times until her hair was thoroughly wet, then opened the bottle of shampoo Allen had sent and put some into the palm of one hand.

"It's chamomile," he informed her of the scent as he began working the shampoo into her hair, thankful that Allen hadn't sent something perfumed with lavender, instead. Then again, Marian knew Avery had a sensitivity to the flower and likely would have made sure Allen sent something which wouldn't trigger her to go into a sneezing fit.

"You're awfully quiet," he said after a moment. "What's on your mind?"

Avery continued to remain silent for a moment longer before finally speaking. "I heard what Rebecca said... about me. And about how I measure up to the women you used to date."

Klaus' hands stilled in their gentle massaging of her scalp, and he leaned down to kiss her bare shoulder once more before he resumed his previous actions.

"Are you really worried I don't find you attractive, Avery?" he asked her.

"No, I... I know you do," Avery replied, sliding down a little into the water to hide herself beneath the mountain of bubbles upon the surface.

"She's right that you're not like the women I dated before," he told her, causing her to tense a bit. "That's not a bad thing, though. Yes, you're probably the shortest woman I have ever dated, but I didn't really notice it until it was pointed out to me, today."

"You're almost foot taller than me," Avery said with a small laugh. "How do you _not_ notice that?"

Klaus chuckled, pulling the ends of her hair up and piling them on top of her head in order to lather the shampoo into them, as well.

"That's not what I meant. _Obviously_ I noticed there's a significant height difference between us. What I mean is that I never realized before today that you're the first woman who I can fully fit against me when I hold you in my arms. I know it might seem sexist, but I like that because it makes me feel that I can do my duty as a man and protect you – not that you _need_ protecting, as you proved today."

Avery laughed again, shifting in the water with a content sigh.

"I also have another reason I adore your smaller stature, though it might seem a bit odd or creepy to you."

"What is it?" she asked, turning her head slightly to look at him.

Klaus blushed a little. "I'm sure you noticed the way I tend to kiss you on top of your head. It's not meant as a wholly affectionate gesture, but it's also not some sort of belittling gesture, either. It's... a covert way of getting to smell your hair."

Avery chuckled at his admission and turned away from him again to hide her own blush. "Coming from anyone else, that _would_ be kind of creepy. With you, though, I think it's sweet."

"Also, for the record, you're not 'chubby,'" Klaus assured her, recalling the other things Rebecca had said about her in their conversation. "By modeling industry standards, yes... You're a bit on the plump side. But those standards are so ridiculously out of touch with reality that I refuse to hold any woman to them."

"At least my breasts aren't fake," she added, and Klaus reached one hand down into the water and grasped one of her breasts, gently squeezing it and drawing a soft gasp from her.

"No, and you're already fully aware of how much I love them, I'm sure," he said. "Just like I love all the rest of your curves. Including that little belly of yours you were so desperately trying to hide last night."

Avery sank back down into the water once more, and Klaus slid his hand up from her chest to rest under her chin, then used one finger to tilt it upward until her head was arched back and he was able to look into her eyes.

"I love you, Avery. _All_ of you. I don't mind if you gain a few pounds eating all those sweets Raeger likes to give you. I would never change a thing about you. And even when we're both old and grey and all wrinkly I will still think you're the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Sweet-talker," she said, her voice trembling a bit, and Klaus got up from where he was kneeling and sat on the edge of the tub in order to lean over and kiss her. His hand slid back down to her breast and continued farther down still, but the combination of the awkward position and the way he was precariously perched caused him to loose his balance and he ended up slipping into the tub next to her.

Avery squealed as the water splashed about and sloshed over the edge of the tub to the floor, then laughed at the way Klaus looked. His eyes were wide and his clothes were soaked and covered in bubbles. He quickly recomposed himself and smirked as he splashed some of the water at her, causing her to let out another surprised squeak, then he sat up and pulled her to him for a more proper kiss.

She dropped her wineglass into the tub and wrapped her arms around his neck, sliding closer to him in order to make the position a bit less awkward for them both. Klaus helped her into his lap, and she giggled a bit into the kiss when she felt the wet wool of his trousers brushing between her legs as she straddled him. He nipped at her bottom lip to silence her laughter, then swept his tongue back into her mouth to resume kissing her deeply as he adjusted his long legs over the side of the tub in a way which was more comfortable for himself and also helped to support her in his lap.

Avery's hands soon began wandering, searching for the buttons of his shirt and working each one open in succession – along with those holding on the waistcoat he was still wearing. Her hands met with his skin, and she trailed them up along the length of his torso, sliding them up under his open shirt to part it and expose more of his body to her touch.

"Slow down, love," Klaus told her, his voice quiet and a bit breathless from their kissing. "We still haven't washed that shampoo out of your hair, yet."

"Then do it and take me to bed," she instructed him, her lips brushing against his as she spoke.

Klaus groaned and kissed her briefly, then helped her up out of his lap and awkwardly climbed out of the tub, sending more water onto the floor. Avery watched him as he pulled off the top half of his clothing, and he laughed a little as he dropped both articles to the floor, creating a sloppy, wet sound.

"I think we're going to need to clean up this mess before we do anything in bed, love," he told her, smiling and kneeling on his shirt and waistcoat amidst the large puddle of water covering her bathroom floor.

"Fine," she acquiesced, pouting a little as she turned her back to him once more so he could more easily rinse out her hair. "After that, though."

"With great pleasure," he agreed, gesturing for her to tilt her head back as he reached into the water and searched for the wineglass she'd dropped. Once he located it, he used it to scoop up the water out of the tub and rinse her hair. The lather easily washed out, and – to his surprise and relief – most of the deep purple dye came along with it. Her dark blonde hair still had a very slight tint of the color remaining, but Allen had said it might take a couple of washings to remove all the dye.

"How does it look?" she asked him once he finally set aside the wineglass.

"Use the shampoo Allen sent tomorrow morning, and that should take care of the last of it," he informed her, kissing the top of her head as he stood up, enjoying the scent of chamomile lingering on her hair. He then retrieved two towels from the cabinet next to the door and handed one to her before removing the stopper from the tub to drain out the now-purple water.

Avery stood and began drying her hair with the towel Klaus had given her, and Klaus used the one he still had to wrap around her body before he swept her up into his arms. Avery let out a yelp of surprise at the sudden action and he chuckled as he cradled her in his arms and carried her out of the bathroom and over to her bed. She sighed happily and rested her head against his shoulder as they traveled across the space of her small farmhouse's single floor, one of her hands resting over his heart while the other played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"I love you," she whispered to him, and Klaus smiled at her.

"I love you, too, Avery," he said as he gently placed her upon her bed, then kissed her before standing upright. "Get yourself dried off while I clean up the bathroom."

"Okay," she told him, nodding, a blush creeping across her cheeks.

"I'll be back soon," he promised her, leaning down to kiss her once more before retreating back to the bathroom, picking up the towel she'd been using to dry her hair – which she must have dropped as he was carrying her – and taking it with him.

Once he reached the bathroom, he deposited her towel into the laundry basket, then picked up his items of clothing which were on the floor and tossed them in, as well. He then grabbed two more large, fluffy towels from the cabinet and used them to mop up the rest of the water off the floor. Once those towels had also joined the rest of the wet articles in the basket, he blew out all of the candles he had set up around the room and made his way back out to Avery.

He smiled as he saw her lying on the bed, waiting for him, and he sat town at her dining table to remove his boots so that they wouldn't have to pause later in the middle of things to worry about getting them off. She remained quiet and unmoving as he sat there, and he laughed a little.

"Nervous?" he asked her, but she didn't answer, and the smile on his face briefly faltered when he lifted his gaze to look at her once more, only to be replaced by an even bigger grin.

He'd been mistaken before when he thought she was watching him, as he found her eyes were very much closed, her chest rising and falling slowly. It appeared she had laid herself out upon her bed in a manner which was meant to entice him, and she had succeeded in spurring his desires, but in the few minutes it had taken him to straighten up her bathroom the combination of the pain medicine and the wine had kicked in and she'd fallen asleep.

Klaus stood from the chair he had been sitting in and crossed the rest of the room to were she was sleeping, then carefully lowered himself to sit next to her on the mattress. She rolled over a little in her sleep, reaching out blindly and placing her hand on his thigh but not waking up. He leaned over her and kissed her softly, brushing her wet hair back away from her face, and chuckled a little to himself as he recalled Marian's comment from that morning about how it seemed like they were never going to have sex. He knew if he wanted to her could probably rouse her from her sleep and, judging by how eager she'd seemed, she likely wouldn't protest to his reason for having awakened her. However, he didn't have the heart to disturb her when she looked so peaceful. It had been a trying day for both of them, after all, and the longer he watched her sleep the more tired he felt, himself.

He stifled a yawn and laughed a little, then leaned down and kissed her one more time before removing her hand from his leg and standing up. He then retrieved the blanket she kept across the back of her sofa and used it to cover her naked body so she wouldn't catch cold and returned to the bathroom to collect the rest of his clothes. After redressing, he quickly wrote a note to her to explain to her why he left – to go home and get into some dry clothes, mostly – and tell her he loved her and would see her later in the week, then placed it on her bedside table where she would be sure to see it as soon as she woke up.

"Soon, love," he promised her sleeping form as he pulled on his coat over his wet shirt and waistcoat. "Next time, I'm not stopping."


	28. Chapter Twenty-Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of quick things...
> 
> 1) Arancini really is one of Felicity's favorite foods, according to the Fogu site for A New Beginning.
> 
> 2) "von" is a nobiliary particle in German last names. That's why I gave Elise the last name "von Tuffel." (You'll see why this is important in this chapter.)
> 
> Enjoy the start of the short crossover between this story and my other Harvest Moon story I'm working on! ;)

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

Klaus concentrated on his breathing, his eyes closed, and tried not to think about where he was. That was not an east task, however, as they'd hit a spot of rough wind and the small plane Amir had chartered to bring them to Echo Village was being tossed about lightly in the air. He gasped as they hit a particularly nasty bump in the turbulence, and he felt Avery take his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. He returned the gesture, though his grip tightened considerably as the plane was tossed about once more, and Marian's laughter drifted to him from across the small passenger cabin of the plane.

"I had no idea you were afraid to fly," the doctor said as he continued chuckling at his expense.

"I don't know why you're surprised that I would be," Klaus snapped in reply. "You _know_ how much I hate heights."

"Which is why I insisted that Avery sit by the window," Marian pointed out.

"Leave him be," Avery scolded him, her other hand coming to rest upon Klaus' back and rub slowly in circles to soothe his nerves. Klaus opened his eyes a little and looked at her, giving her a small smile in appreciation for her attempts to make him feel better, but soon forced them shut once more and swore under his breath as they hit another jarring bump.

"You three okay back there?" the blonde man piloting the plane called back to them.

"We're fine, Charles," Marian called in response even as Klaus was shaking his head.

"What are you even doing here?" he asked after a moment, looking over to the man seated across from him. "I'm guessing you're Allen's 'plus one,' but you didn't need to go into town a full two days before the wedding."

"Addie invited me, actually," Marian informed him with a smirk. "We're not extremely close, but she and I have spoken on a few occasions. As for my coming in early, I figured Avery would end up being pretty busy helping with the last-minute preparations so I thought you might like a familiar face to spend time with rather than having to fend completely for yourself in a strange town full of people you don't know."

"And I assume those last-minute preparations are the reason why we couldn't have just taken a _train_ over?" Klaus asked, turning his attention to Avery. She gave him an apologetic smile and leaned forward in her seat to kiss him briefly.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Flying _is_ faster. If I had known you'd be so uncomfortable, though, I would have insisted we not accept the offer Amir made to fly us in."

Klaus smiled at her as much as he could given the current situation he was in. He hated being in such a bad mood around her, especially considering that they were not only going to a wedding but they hadn't really seen much of each other in several days. He'd spent much of the days leading up to their departure date getting ahead on his work load so that he didn't end up falling behind while they were away, and had only seen her for about half an hour Thursday morning. He'd been relieved that she wasn't upset with him for taking off like he had after she had so openly expressed her desires with him yet again, and had promised her that the weekend would be a sort of getaway for the two of them. However, the more she and Marian were talking about things, the less time it seemed like he and Avery would actually get to spend with one another.

"So what are the plans once we land?" he asked her, keeping his gaze focused upon her face as he released her hand and reached up to brush his fingers through her hair – which, thankfully, was once more its natural golden-blonde color.

"Addie and Amir will meet us at the travel agency," she told him. "Then we'll probably all go get lunch at the restaurant in town. After that... I don't really know."

She shrugged and Klaus nodded, then closed his eyes as the plane suddenly turned. Charles called back to them, telling them he was about to land, and Klaus resumed his previous position of sitting tensely in his seat with his eyes closed, his hand seeking out Avery's once more to hold it as he felt the plane begin its descent. A gentle bump signaled that they'd landed, and after another minute or so the small aircraft had come to a complete stop. He let out the breath he'd been holding and opened his eyes, then grabbed Avery and kissed her firmly.

"We're taking a train back," he insisted once their lips had parted, causing her to giggle and kiss him once more.

"Fine by me," she agreed, and the three of them carefully filed out of the plane while Charles retrieved their luggage from the small compartment under where they had been sitting.

"Avery!"

Klaus turned to see the blonde girl from the pictures he'd noticed in Avery's old room running toward them, her arms open wide. Avery let out a squeal of happiness and took off in her direction, and the two of them met halfway and embraced each other in a tight hug as they giggled merrily. Klaus then noticed the two men coming up slowly behind Avery's cousin. One was the tall servant who had brought the invitation to the wedding to Avery's home – Sanjay, Klaus recalled his name after thinking for a moment. The other he assumed to be Addie's fiance, Prince Amir. Surprisingly, he was about six inches shorter than Sanjay, though he carried himself in such a way that people were sure to not really notice the difference in their heights. Like his servant, he possessed darker skin and hair as white as the purest snow, but his eyes were a startling shade of sapphire blue. He grinned as he looked at the two women – who were animatedly chatting away as though they'd never been apart – then he turned to Klaus and offered his hand in greeting.

"I am Amir Ranjit Raj Singh," he warmly introduced himself, omitting his title. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mister von Albrecht."

Klaus cleared his throat a bit, shifting uncomfortably on his feet and glancing over at Avery. Thankfully, she had been too wrapped up in her reunion with her cousin to notice the way Amir had addressed him."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, as well, but please... It's just Albrecht. I dropped the title years ago. In fact, I would rather you simply called me Klaus."

Amir blinked at him a bit in confusion, but nodded politely in agreement to his request.

"I trust you had a pleasant journey?" he asked, releasing Klaus' hand to gesture toward the plane. "Charles is a most excellent pilot, is he not?"

"Klaus is afraid of flying," Marian stepped into the conversation, holding out Klaus's suitcase to him and winking at him.

"My greatest apologies," Amir said, bowing. "If I had known, I would have made other arrangements for your transportation."

"It's fine, Amir," Klaus assured him. "And there's no need to be so formal with me, you know." The last was added with a glance in Avery's direction, and the prince followed his gaze and smiled.

"Understood. So, you two will be staying at the inn here in town, is that correct?" he asked, gesturing toward Avery as she and Addie finally came over to join them.

"What about Marian?" Klaus asked with a nod in the doctor's direction, wrapping his arm around Avery's waist even as Addie took Amir's outstretched hand and settled herself against his side.

"The inn is pretty full, with its regular residents and all of Addie's family coming into town for the wedding," Marian explained before Amir got the chance to. "Allen's got an extra bed, so I'm staying with him."

Addie bit her lip to keep herself from smiling, and Amir simply nodded before asking Sanjay to take their bags to their respectful destinations. Sanjay bowed and agreed to carry out the request, then gathered the suitcases each of them had brought and set off to deliver them to the inn and Allen's house.

"Are you guys hungry?" Addie asked, looking to each of the three of them, in turn. They each nodded and she grinned. "Great! Let's go get some lunch. Clement's place is just down the road from here."

Addie eagerly started to take off, and Amir chuckled as he followed her, his hand still held in her own. Avery shook her head a bit as she and Klaus followed them, along with Marian.

"I swear, I've never seen her like this," she said to them. "She's so... _happy_!"

Klaus chuckled, pulling her closer and kissing her on top of her head. "She's about to marry the man she loves. Isn't it normal for her to be overly excited right now?"

"He's right," Marian made his own observation, looking at Avery. "She's just acting like you normally do around Klaus. I can't even _imagine_ how insufferable you're going to be if the two of you ever get engaged."

Klaus smiled at Avery as she blushed and looked away, then he stepped forward to hold take the door of the restaurant from Amir, who had held it open for Addie. The prince refused to let him take over, though, and so he merely nodded in thanks as he wrapped his arm once more around Avery's waist and led her inside with Marian bringing up the rear.

"Welcome to Chez Clement," a young woman with blonde hair wearing a blue-striped maid's outfit greeted them with a bow.

"Good afternoon, Felicity," Addie said to her, joining the three of them on Amir's arm, and the young woman straightened up and smiled.

"Oh! Addie! Good afternoon! I didn't see you there."

"It's okay," Addie assured her, waving off her concern. "Can we get a table for five?"

"You're all together?" Felicity wondered, looking over the unfamiliar faces once more and gasping softly when she came to Avery. "Oh! Of course! You must be some of Addie's wedding guests. Please, come in and have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable and enjoy some of the best cuisine in the world!"

She led them all to where the tables were set up, a lively bounce in her step, and carefully pushed two slightly smaller tables together to make room for all of them to sit together for their meal. She then handed each of them a menu and informed them of the specials as she pulled a small pad of paper and a pencil from the pocket in her apron.

"What can I get for you?" she asked, first addressing her regulars. "The usual?"

"For me, yes," Amir replied, handing the menu back to her.

"You're so boring," Addie teased him. "I think I'm going to go with the yam pasta, today."

Felicity nodded and made a note of her order, then turned took her menu as well before turning to the other three diners.

"I'd like the mixed vegetable rice, dear," Marian requested, handing over his menu with a smile.

"And I believe I will have the carbonara," Klaus placed his order, then turned to Avery, who was still pouring over her menu.

"We're all waiting on you, love," he told her with a smile and a gentle nudge, and she frowned even more as she continued looking over the available options.

"I'm trying to find something Raeger doesn't offer," she told him quietly. "I'd hate to have something he makes end up being better better here."

Klaus chuckled and looked over her shoulder at the menu, then pointed to one of the selections after a bit.

"How about this one? I don't recall ever seeing it on his menu."

Avery nodded and held out the menu to Felicity. "I'll have the arancini, with the alfredo sauce."

"Excellent choice!" Felicity exclaimed. "One of my personal favorites. I'll be right back with your orders."

She hurried off to the kitchen and the five of them began talking among themselves as they waited for their food to arrive. Amir was especially keen to learn how Avery and Klaus had met, which Klaus found odd as he expected Addie would have told him all about her cousin's love life much like Avery had informed him of theirs. When he learned Klaus was a famous perfumer, the prince immediately asked to commission him to create fragrances that he could give as gifts to his mother and two sisters, and while Klaus had wanted to avoid thinking about work during their trip he agreed to take on the task once his current private orders were fulfilled. Amir then turned his attention upon Avery, bombarding her with questions about her farm and how the winery she had been building was coming along, and Klaus chuckled a little as she blushed at all the attention he was paying to her.

"I apologize for him," Addie said when Klaus caught her eye. "He's very interested in learning about other people."

"As long as he doesn't try to delve too deeply into Klaus' past, I think we'll be okay, sweetie," Marian remarked, earning himself a glare from Klaus. Addie merely chuckled.

"Yeah, Avery told me about that. Don't worry, I'm not gonna judge. I'm not exactly a perfect little angel, myself."

She gave Klaus a wink and the three of them stopped talking as the food arrived, forcing Amir to end his conversation with Avery, as well. Felicity served them each their meals along with a glass of wine, smiling as she placed the rest of the bottle on the table.

"Wine's on the house, courtesy of Clement," she explained when they all gave her a questioning look. "He said a family reunion and an upcoming wedding are both reason to celebrate."

They thanked her and she returned to her other duties about the restaurant while the five of them ate. Klaus reached over with his fork and stole a bite of one of the alfredo-covered rice balls on Avery's plate, and she retaliated by attempting to get some of his carbonara onto her fork but kept failing so he ended up feeding her some off his own fork. Addie insisted on sharing her yam pasta with Amir, saying he really needed to try something other than the omelet rice from time to time, and Marian simply watched the two couples with a wistful look in his eyes.

"We should have invited Sanjay to join us," Klaus said, catching his eye. "At least then you would have had some eye candy to enjoy, right?"

"Yeah," Marian replied with a small smile and Klaus raised an eyebrow in concern. Marian simply shook his head, his eyes going to Amir briefly before returning to meet his gaze once more, and Klaus nodded in understanding.

"Care to clue me in on what that was about?" Avery whispered to him as Amir began chatting Marian up about his work as a doctor.

"My guess is Allen hasn't been very forthcoming with the residents of town about his exact relationship with Marian," he replied just as quietly. "That's probably why Addie sent him a separate invitation – so he could be Allen's date to the wedding without it actually _looking_ like he's Allen's date to the wedding."

"Poor Marian," Avery said, shaking her head a bit. "It must be hard on him, having to hide the relationship."

"It isn't the first time he's had to deal with something like this," Klaus told her with a sigh, then forced a smile and kissed her. "Let's not talk about such things, though, love... this is a happy time, right?"

Avery nodded and reached across the table to place her hand on Addie's, pulling her attention away from the conversation between Amir and Marian.

"What time are we supposed to be doing that fitting?" she asked, and Addie suddenly jumped up from her seat.

"Shit! We're probably already late!" she said, then bent down to kiss Amir. "Sorry to run, but we've gotta get over to Yuri's shop."

"Why don't you come with us, Marian?" Avery suggested as she also stood, her hand on Klaus' shoulder. "I'm sure we could use an expert eye for fashion like yours to help make sure the design is perfect."

Marian's face lit up as he smiled widely. "I would be honored to help."

The cousins flanked the doctor once he'd stood from his seat and joined them on the other side of the table, each of the girls linking an arm through his and grinning excitedly.

"You boys have fun, now," Addie told Amir and Klaus with a wink before escorting the other two out of the restaurant, and Klaus chuckled as he reached into his pocket for some money to pay the bill.

"Please, allow me," Amir insisted. "You are my guests, so I shall treat you as such."

"Thanks," Klaus said with a nod, and Amir bowed slightly as he called Felicity back over to the table.

"Can I get you something else?" she asked, looking back and forth between them.

"I will have some tea, if you please," he told her, then turned to Klaus.

"Coffee," he requested. "Black, two sugars."

"You got it!" Felicity cheerfully replied, then set off to fix their after-meal drinks.

"I must say, I was quite surprised by how much Avery looks like Addie," Amir said, causing Klaus to chuckle.

"That's about the same reaction I had when I first saw of a picture of the two of them together," he told the prince. "Avery had said they were like sisters growing up, but I never knew that they _looked_ like sisters, too, until that moment."

"They are quite different in personalities, though," Amir observed. "Avery seems more reserved, while Addie is rather... forward."

Klaus laughed once more. "Avery will surprise you, though. She's usually a sweet, caring girl, sure. Underneath, though, is a little spitfire. Just last week she punched someone so hard she broke their chek bone."

"She hit a man?" Amir asked, his eyes wide.

"Another woman, actually," Klaus corrected, thanking Felicity when she returned with their drinks.

"Why would she do such a thing?" Amir wondered, his expression still full of disbelief.

"It's a long story," Klaus told him, smiling to hide a wince. "She was my former lover, and Avery hit her after she attempted to sleep with me despite being engaged to someone else."

"Jealousy is an unbecoming emotion," Amir said, hanging his head in shame. "I, too, am guilty of having committed such an act against someone recently."

"It wasn't really jealousy. Not completely, anyway. A lot of the reason she did it was because she loved me. This other woman... she hurt me pretty bad, in the past, and Avery _hated_ her for it. So it might have been partly out of jealousy, but I think mostly she did it as retribution for the way I'd been hurt."

Amir laughed a little, blushing. " _I_ did it purely out of jealousy. And fear."

Klaus shrugged. "Whatever your reasons, I'm sure they were justified. Just like Avery, you don't seem like the sort of person who would resort to physical violence without a good reason. Whoever it was you hit, they probably deserved it."

Amir nodded and gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Klaus. Your words have helped comfort my troubled soul."

"Any time, Amir," Klaus replied, then began drinking his coffee.

"I have to wonder, though... That is, if you will pardon my forwardness... But why do you shun your status?"

Klaus stiffened, setting his cup down, and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I ran away from home when I was a teenager, and no longer considered myself my parents' son," he explained, leaving out the finer details of his early life on his own.

"Judging by the gift Addie said you gave Avery for her birthday, I am assuming you were never formally disowned or disinherited by your family, though."

"No," Klaus confirmed, shaking his head. "They left me everything when they died."

"Then why have you not told Avery?"

Klaus sighed and folded his arms on the table in front of him. "I don't really care about my status. It's just a worthless title, to me. I've built my life and my career on my own merit and abilities. If you start throwing around a title like that, either people automatically think you're better than everyone else or they think that _you_ think you're better than everyone else. I'm sure you, of all people, understand that."

"I do," Amir told him with a rueful smile. "In fact, Addie herself thought quite badly of me when I first came here because of my being royalty. Then, when I told her of my intentions toward her, I had to convince her to see me not as a prince but as a man."

"So you see now why I haven't told Avery?"

"Yes, but you _will_ have to tell her, sooner or later," Amir reminded him. "Especially if you ever plan on marrying her."

"I know."

"You are lucky, though," Amir continued with a sigh. "You and Avery will not have to jump through the same hoops Addie and I have had to in order to be together."

"I can't say I envy you, there," Klaus told him, a small laugh escaping and causing Amir to sigh once more.

"I fear that she and I will face yet more obstacles once we have taken our vows."

"Hey," Klaus said to get his attention, the waited for the prince's gaze to meet his before continuing. "I know it's hard for someone like you to have a relationship with a normal girl who isn't the daughter of some rich noble or some other powerful political figure, but I can tell you really love Addie. Don't ever let go of that love, Amir. Whatever happens, fight for it – just like I would fight for Avery if I were in your shoes."

"I will," Amir assured him, smiling a bit. "Believe me, I have _already_ been fighting for it. Ever since I first met her, it has been one battle after the next to win her heart and make her my bride."

"Master Amir?" Sanjay called as he entered the restaurant. He approached their table and bowed to Klaus before turning to the prince. "Forgive me for disturbing your meal, but your wedding clothes have just arrived. We should take them to the tailors to be sure they do not require any alterations before the ceremony."

"Should probably wait on that," Klaus suggested as Amir stood from his chair. "Addie's there right now, and in our culture it's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding day."

Sanjay smiled and Amir laughed.

"Then perhaps _you_ should stay away from the tailor shop, Klaus," the prince replied. "Addie's dress was finished yesterday. Today they are merely fitting Avery's dress for the wedding. Though, I suppose you could go if you really wanted to. There are no customs which say it is bad luck to see the maid of honor in _her_ dress, are there?"

"No," Klaus said, chuckling. He finished off his coffee and stood, adjusting his coat a bit. "I would happily go visit the ladies, but I think they probably want some time to catch up. It's been a few years since they last actually saw one another, after all. Besides, I'm still feeling a little lightheaded from that plane ride so I think I'll head to the inn and rest for a while."

"Very well," Amir said with a nod, leaving some money on the table to cover the bill before holding out a hand to him. "Thank you for our conversation, Klaus."

"And thank you for lunch, Amir," Klaus replied as they shook hands, smiling.

The three of them left the restaurant together, and Sanjay escorted Klaus to the inn before leaving to join Amir – who had immediately gone to the tailor's shop. One he had made it upstairs to the room he would be sharing with Avery, he flopped onto one of the two beds with a heavy sigh. Amir was right: sooner or later, he would have no choice but to tell Avery about his lineage.

It was never a matter of whether or not he was ever going to tell her. Ever since things became serious between them, he always knew he would have to eventually let her know the truth. It was the one secret he'd manged to keep safe from nearly _everyone_ in Oak Tree Town, though. The only people who knew were the ones who had been living there before he left home – if any of them even really recalled the truth, themselves, given the fact he'd been gone for so long even after his parents passed. Not even Marian knew about it, because it had never felt important enough to tell him. So now his mind was being plagued by a question he knew he would likely have to come up with an answer to sooner rather than later.

How do you tell the woman you love that you have a birthright you despise?


	29. Chapter Twenty-Eight

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

Avery closed her eyes and slowly drew in a breath of the fresh mountain air, savoring the feeling as it filled her lungs. It wasn't like she couldn't enjoy fresh air back home, but it was the first chance she'd really gotten to slow down and relax since she and Klaus had arrived in Echo Village the previous day. Amir had shown up during her dress fitting and informed her that Klaus had decided he needed to rest, so Addie had taken that as an invitation to drag her all over town once they were finished at the tailor's shop.

Granted, the tour of the town had given her ample opportunity to meet nearly everyone who lived there, but Avery had been looking forward to spending some time alone with Klaus, as well. By the time she finally made it to the hotel in the evening, though, he'd been fast asleep. Instead of waking him, she decided it would be best if she rested up in preparation of what she was sure would end up being another busy day and she ended up ignoring the second bed in the room in order to cuddle with him in his own small bed.

Then she'd awoken in the morning to find him holding her in much the same manner a child would clutch a teddy bear during a nightmare and she started to worry. She knew it was likely nothing to get all worked up over, but a nagging voice in the back of her mind kept telling her that something didn't feel quite right. He'd also been unusually quiet during breakfast, which bothered her, but Marian had filled much of the silence with questions about how Avery was enjoying the town and their visit so far. After they'd finished eating, Klaus had asked her to take a walk with him – alone – and while Marian had given her a wink of encouragement she'd only felt her stomach sink in an odd way.

“What is it you wanted to talk to me about?” she finally asked, turning her head slightly to look at them as they continued walking side-by-side.

“I didn't say I wanted to talk about anything,” Klaus replied, shaking his head but continuing to look down at the path instead of turning his attention to her.

“You've had something on your mind all morning, I can tell,” Avery informed him, reaching out and taking his hand, then pulling on it gently to halt him in his steps. “Talk to me, Klaus. Please?”

Klaus sighed softly and finally looked at her, and Avery could see the conflicting emotions in his eyes. Instinctively, she linked her fingers through his and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as she stepped forward and raised herself up on her toes to kiss him. He only barely returned her kiss, and when she looked up at him again she started biting her lip in worry.

“It's nothing drastic, love,” he told her, reaching up with his free hand to run his fingers through her hair. “But there is something I need to tell you and I've been struggling to figure out how to say it.”

“Why not just say it now?” she suggested with a shrug. “Get it out in the open and then you can stop worrying about it.”

Klaus let out another sigh and nodded, closing his eyes, and Avery watched him quietly as she waited for whatever it was he needed to say to come out of his mouth. A silent prayer kept running through her mind that he wasn't about to tell her he'd decided he didn't ever want to get married, after all.

“My last name isn't actually Albrecht,” he finally told her, his eyes still closed. “It's _von_ Albrecht.”

He opened his eyes then and Avery blinked a few times in confusion as she wondered why his having subtly changed his last name at some point would be such a big deal. Then she recalled one of the first conversations she'd had with Elise after moving to Oak Tree Town, when her rival farmer had snobbishly pointed out she had forgotten the 'von' in her last name when addressing her.

“You're nobility?” she asked Klaus quietly, and he nodded in reply. “How important?”

“My family is ranked a little below Elise's, but at this point I don't even really consider myself part of the nobility at all any more. It's an old title that I simply inherited by being born to my parents, and a reminder of everything I hated about them.”

“It's _just_ a title?” Avery prodded, suddenly remembering a remark he'd made on her birthday. “I think there's more to it than that, Klaus.”

“When they died, I inherited their entire estate,” he admitted, “which surprised me, actually. I thought for sure they would have completely disowned me after I ran away. But I suppose I should have known they wouldn't. Appearances were always so very important to them, after all.”

“So... You're nobility, and you're secretly rich. Anything else?”

“All those plots of land you and the other farmers compete over? They belonged to my family. I had them donated to the town after my parents died.”

“So I take it that means Veronica has known all along about this?” she asked him, a slight edge to her voice. “Who else knows? Marian, I assume.”

“I met Marian a year after my parents had died,” Klaus reminded her. “By then, it had already been four years since I'd dropped the title from my name. As for Veronica, I think she probably assumed when I returned to town and was simply going by Albrecht that I actually _had_ been disowned and left it at that. Same for Raeger's mother and grandfather, while Raeger himself had only been about four years old when I originally left town so I doubt he even remembers my living there before I came back.”

“But he would have known your parents, so he probably _did_ know about you being nobility,” Avery reasoned, clenching her jaw.

“Doubtful,” Klaus said, shaking his head. “My parents didn't associate with the 'low-borns' of the community. In fact, my mother hated Raeger's mother quite passionately. Called her a whore on more occasions than I would like to admit, and she was positively gloating behind the poor woman's back when his dad walked out on them shortly after Raeger's second birthday.”

“Well, I'm glad she's already dead or I would have had to beat her face in once we got back to town for that,” Avery said, causing Klaus to laugh a little.

“No one else in town knows anything about my lineage, as far as I know. Aside from Old Otmar, anyway, and well... You know how addled his brain is. Everyone else moved in or was born after I had left and probably just knew my parents as 'those snobby rich folks you avoid walking too near the house of.'”

Avery nodded slightly and took a step back from him, then sighed.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you leave me no choice other than to do this.”

With that, she reached up and slapped him. It wasn't as hard as the slap she'd given him when she thought he'd been cheating on her with Iris, but it was still enough to cause an echo of the sound to reverberate off the trees around them. Klaus looked at her with wide eyes as he brought a hand up to his cheek, and Avery followed up her unexpected move with another one by grasping his cravat and pulling him to her for a kiss.

“Why the hell would you hide something like _that_ from me, Klaus?” she asked him, her voice more hurt than angry. “Especially considering all the _other_ things you've told me about so openly. I mean, maybe I'm wrong but I think you having slept with a couple hundred women is _much_ worse than you being nobility and I still loved you even after finding out about _that_ , didn't I?”

Klaus shook his head. “I don't expect you to understand my reasons, love.”

“Then _explain_ them to me,” she insisted, “or at least try.”

“I suppose the biggest part is that I didn't want you judging me based on that one detail,” he told her, gently pulling her into his arms and holding her close as he spoke. “You can't stand Elise, after all, and I didn't want you lumping me in with her.”

“You're nothing like her, though,” she pointed out to him.

“My parents were,” Klaus said with a scoff. “In fact, if they were still alive today I could see them trying to push me to marry her. They certainly wouldn't have approved of me dating _you_ , that's for sure.”

“Because I'm some low-born farm girl, right?”

“That and because of the circumstances regarding your birth,” Klaus added. “Like I said, my mother thought _very_ little of Raeger's mother for getting pregnant out of wedlock.”

Avery stiffened a little. “Yes, well... She wouldn't be the only one to hold it against me that my mother was already pregnant when she and my father got married.”

She felt Klaus shift to look down at her, but she continued to keep her head against his chest in order to avoid looking at him and answering whatever unsaid questions he might have about that particular remark. He'd be finding out soon enough, anyway. Instead, she merely tightened her arms around him.

“You said that was only part of it, though,” she prompted him. “What's the rest?”

This time he stiffened, and Avery raised her head to look up at him and found him with his eyes closed again.

“Klaus?”

“As you might have guessed, love, I didn't exactly have the best relationship with my parents.”

“Obviously, considering you left home to get away from them,” Avery remarked, reaching up and brushing her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Take everything about your own family and turn it upside-down, and you've got what I had to go through while growing up,” he told her, opening his eyes to look down at her, and Avery felt her heart break at the pain she saw in them.

“You were an unexpected treasure to your parents,” he continued quietly. “Even though they hadn't planned on having you when they did, they loved you. On the other hand, I _was_ planned. My parents didn't love me, though. They barely _cared_ about me. To them, I was the fulfillment of an expectation and nothing more. I wasn't conceived out of love but for the purpose of carrying on the bloodline and the family name.”

“I'm sorry, Klaus,” Avery told him, pulling him closer and holding him.

“It kills me to think of how different things might be right now if I'd let them control me the way they wanted to when I was younger,” he whispered, pausing briefly to press a kiss to the side of her head. “I never would have even given you a second glance. You'd probably be with Fritz or Raeger now, and I'd surely be on my way to a miserable marriage of convenience with Elise.”

“Don't talk like that, okay?” Avery replied, turning her head and catching his lips in a soft kiss. “Don't think about how miserable you might have been if things were different. Actually, I'd rather believe that even if you hadn't left home when you were a teenager that maybe things might have turned out in a similar way to how they really did. We'd have seen each other, and there would have been this mutual attraction... and maybe it would have been even harder for us to come together in that situation, but I refuse to believe that love wouldn't have won out, in the end.”

Klaus suddenly kissed her then, taking Avery by surprise, and he took advantage of her gasp to sweep his tongue into her mouth. She returned the kiss just as fervently, grasping at his coat as he backed her up against the nearest tree, and whimpered softly into his mouth.

“I love you,” he muttered against her lips before renewing their kiss, but Avery pulled away again a moment later.

“I'm still kind of mad at you, you know.”

“I know,” Klaus said with a nod.

“But I love you, too, and I do understand why you didn't tell me before. You shouldn't let the bad memories from your childhood haunt you so much, though. It's the past. Let it stay there, where it belongs.”

Klaus smiled a little as he brushed her hair back from her face. “You're right. No matter how bleak my past was, I can see now how beautiful my future is.”

He leaned close to her again, their lips gently touching in a series of gentle kisses until he finally gave in and fully claimed her mouth once more. Avery's hands moved up into his hair and she leaned back fully against the trunk of the tree behind her for support while Klaus' hands encircled her waist. She knew they wouldn't be able to progress past kissing one another, given both their location and the fact that the day was set to be full of more busywork pertaining to her cousin's wedding, but she was content in sharing whatever time they could in one another's arms.

“Addie! How could you?”

The two of them quickly parted at the sound of the little girl's voice, and Klaus looked back over his shoulder as Avery leaned around him to see who had spoken. She found a little girl with blonde hair pulled up into a neat bun atop her head, wearing a pretty yellow dress that contrasted greatly with the small aviator's jacket she had on over it. Just that coat alone was enough to tell her the girl was Hina, the daughter who their pilot had been gushing about the previous day during the early part of their flight into town.

“Wait, you're not Addie,” the girl said as realization slowly dawned on her, her grey eyes widening a bit as a blush began to color her cheeks.

“No. I'm Avery, Addie's cousin,” Avery introduced herself, pulling out of Klaus' grasp and going over to the child. “This is my boyfriend, Klaus. You're Hina, right?”

Hina nodded, bowing her head in embarrassment and blushing even more.

“I'm sorry,” she apologized. “I saw your hair and thought you were Addie. Daddy says I jump to conclusions too easily.”

“It's okay,” Klaus assured her, standing at Avery's side and patting the girl on top of her head. “They do look a lot alike, don't they?”

Hina looked up at him and smiled, then blushed once more, and Avery bit her lip to keep from chuckling. Addie had mentioned the girl had a crush on Amir, and now it seemed like she was already starting to develop one on Klaus, as well.

“They're both very pretty,” Hina said, looking down at the large brown boots on her feet. “I hope someday I'll be as pretty as them.”

“I'm sure you will be,” Klaus told her, and she giggled and started swaying back and forth merrily, twirling the skirt of her dress from side to side.

“Thank you, Klaus,” she told him in response to his compliment, batting her eyelashes a bit, and Klaus chuckled as he knelt in front of her.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I'm already spoken for,” he gently let her down, though she simply kept smiling at him. “Perhaps there's a little boy here in the village who's interested in you, though?”

Hina let out a tiny squeak and jumped a little, then hid her face in her hands. Avery could still see her bushing, however, as the color gradually traveled up into her ears. Apparently, Klaus had hit upon something by suggesting one of the other children might like her the way she seemed to like him. She vaguely wondered which of the two boys Addie had mentioned it might be, but quickly pushed aside the thought and instead reached out to place a hand on Klaus' shoulder.

“We should probably head back,” she told him once he had turned to look at her. “Addie has all sorts of last-minute things she wants me to help her with today.”

Klaus nodded and patted Hina on top of her head once more before standing, then he took Avery's hand in his own.

“You'll be all right on your own?” Avery asked.

“Don't worry, I come up here to take walks by myself all the time!” Hina answered the question, her voice slightly muffled by her hands, which were still covering her face. Avery smiled and then turned her attention to Klaus, who she had actually been directing the question toward.

“I'll be fine, love,” he assured her, leaning down to give her a brief kiss. “I'm sure Marian has already planned on dragging me around to show me everything this quaint little town has to offer.”

“And I assume you'll be attending Amir's party tonight?”

“Of course,” Klaus replied with a nod. “Is Addie having a shower tonight, as well?”

“Not exactly,” Avery told him, gently pulling him onto the path and heading in the direction leading back to town. “She already had her big bridal shower last week with the ladies here in town, so tonight it's just going to be the two of us. We're having a sleepover at her place, like old times.”

“That sounds like fun,” Klaus said with a smile.

“Should be, but it means you'll be sleeping alone tonight,” she informed him with a teasing little smirk.

Klaus let out a light chuckle. “I think I can manage, love.”

“I don't know if _I_ can, though,” Avery said with an exaggerated pout, and Klaus stopped walking suddenly and pulled her into his arms.

“Then I suppose I will have to spend tomorrow night making up for the lost time, won't I?” he offered with a wink and Avery felt the breath suddenly leave her lungs and her knees go weak at the implication, even though he was just teasing her and likely meant that he would gladly hold her while she slept like he had the previous night.

A big part of her, however, hoped that he meant something else entirely.


	30. Chapter Twenty-Nine

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

Klaus spent the rest of the day thinking about what Avery had said. Even while Marian was busy gushing over the way the town was laid out or commenting about all the different people who lived there, he was thinking about her words. She'd had a very valid point, after all. For over twenty years he had been hiding his lineage, keeping it a deep, dark secret from those around him. He had his reasons, and he knew they were valid ones, but it was time to move on and stop dwelling on the past. His parents were gone, and he should let the bad memories die with them. He had a great life with good friends and a wonderful woman in it, so perhaps it was time he started associating the name von Albrecht with _those_ memories, instead.

"Klaus, do you want in or not?"

He turned away from the window he'd been gazing out of and looked to the large, round table where Marian was sitting with nearly every man who lived in Eco Village. Dunhill – the town's unofficial mayor – had suggested they all play some poker, which had immediately appealed to the groom-to-be even though Amir had only ever heard of the game in passing conversation.

"Is everyone here?" he asked, picking up the tumbler of whiskey he'd been nursing from the window sill and going over to one of the empty seats at the table.

"Soseki and Klaus should be here soon," Dunhill replied around the cigar in his mouth, then he laughed a little and looked up at Klaus. "Well, shoot... I didn't realize we had two of ya here in town, right now. Guess we'll just have to call him Doc for tonight."

"From what I understand," Allen remarked with a smirk, his own drink poised before his mouth, "Klaus also has an ex named Rebecca."

"That so?" Dunhill said, looking up at Klaus. "Well, I hope ya don't hold that against our dear architect. She's a nice lady, strong too. Can't be easy havin' to raise a child on your own, after all."

"Excuse me, Mister Dunhill?" Amir called politely from where he was sitting. "Could you perhaps explain the rules of this particular game one more time while we wait for the others to arrive?"

Dunhill attempted to explain the game to Amir, but the more he spoke the more the prince looked confused. Charles chuckled and leaned over in the seat next to his, putting an arm around the younger man's shoulders.

"How about I help you out the first few rounds?" he offered. "Then, once you've got the hang of it, you can try fending for yourself?"

"Thank you, Charles," Amir accepted the offer with a nod and a smile.

Klaus slipped off his coat and put it over the back of his chair as Dunhil began shuffling the deck in preparation for dealing the first round, exchanging a look across the table with Marian. The doctor shook his head in warning, and Klaus raised his hands a bit in acquiescence of his unspoken request. The exchange had not gone unnoticed, however, and Klaus soon found an accusatory finger pointed in his direction.

"What the hell was that?" asked a young blonde man with a fading black eye.

"What was what?" Klaus asked in reply, but the other man's scowl only deepened even more.

"You two planning on ripping us off or something?"

"Neil, calm down," the man next to him – whose hair color fell somewhere between Neil's and Allen's – requested, placing a hand on his arm.

"Hey!" Neil yelled, ignoring the other man's request and jerking his arm away as he leaned even more over the table in Klaus' direction. "Answer the damn question!"

"Rod's right, for once," Allen remarked with a cocky smirk and a sidelong glance at the strawberry blonde. "You need to calm down, Neil. Have a drink. It's not like we're playing for money, anyway. Though I wouldn't be opposed to a friendly wager or two."

"Bad idea," came a new voice from the direction of the room's entrance. "The Boss here is likely to end up walking out of here with all your money."

Klaus turned his head, blinking in surprise that someone in town knew about his past gang activity, but soon broke out into a grin when he saw a rather familiar face smiling back at him.

"I'll be damned," he muttered, rising from his seat and going over to hug the other man, both of them laughing. He hadn't dared hope that the Soseki who had been mentioned as living in town would possibly be the same Soseki he'd known when he was younger, and yet here he was – older and dressed _very_ differently from the way he used to, but still the same man who had helped Klaus clean up the neighborhood around Antonio's restaurant.

"You two know each other?" Marian asked, and Klaus turned to him, still beaming.

"Soseki is an old friend," he answered with a nod. "We sort of lost touch over the years, though."

"Which was my fault, largely," Soseki added apologetically. "I pushed a lot of people out of my life following my diagnosis."

"A rather foolish decision, if you ask me," said a haughty-looking man who had arrived with Soseki, pushing up his glasses on the bridge of his nose with one finger. "Someone in your condition should have friends to help look out for his well-being."

"I didn't know you cared so much, Klaus," Soseki said to the man, clapping him on the back before looking back and forth between him and the other Klaus.

"Er... Two Klauses... How are we gonna handle this?" he posed the question to those seated around the table, and Dunhill waved off his concern.

"Already decided we're gonna call him Doc for tonight," he stated, pointing to the doctor, who made a distasteful sound but didn't protest.

"Ready to play some cards, gentlemen?" Klaus asked, walking back over to the table with his arm around Soseki's shoulders.

"Only if you promise not to cheat," Soskei replied with a smirk.

"I _knew_ it!" Neil shouted, pointing at Klaus once more and causing most everyone else at the table to laugh.

Several rounds and half as many drinks later, the men of Echo Village were starting to get a bit rowdy. Neil had shed his red coat and the black t-shirt underneath, complaining he was hot even though Sanjay had opened up all of the windows to help air out the smoke from the cigars Dunhill and Charles were smoking. Marian hadn't been able to help his gaze roaming appreciatively over the well-toned muscles of the animal dealer's chest, which made Allen shift uncomfortably in his chair but he didn't say anything. Klaus had noticed the entire exchange, while almost everyone else seemed to miss it. Judging by the curious look on Amir's face and the quiet chuckle he'd heard coming from Soseki, though, he hadn't been the only one who picked up on the situation.

Rod had started slurring his words after his second drink, and more than once held his entire hand of cards in front of Allen's face to ask him what he should do. Klaus couldn't be sure, but he had an inkling Allen was intentionally giving Rod crappy advice just to mess with him, judging by how badly he was doing overall. Amir, on the other hand, was doing surprisingly well for a beginner. Perhaps the men who were still sober enough to be skillful players were letting him win because it was his bachelor party, but Klaus wasn't pulling any punches. He respected Amir and understood his situation well enough to know that if he ever found out he was being _allowed_ to win rather than doing so based on his own skill he would be hurt.

"So, Neil, how'd you get that black eye?" Marian wondered as he gave up on his latest hand and placed the cards face-down on the table in front of him. Klaus saw Amir stiffen out of the corner of his eye and looked between the two of them in curiosity.

"I tried to fuck Amir's fiancee," Neil stated bluntly, his eyes never straying from the cards in his hand, causing the prince to shift in his seat and cough uncomfortably.

"It is a long story," Sanjay offered in an attempt to diffuse the situation as he began making the rounds of the table to refresh everyone's drinks. "I am sure Master Amir would rather leave it at that."

"You had sex with Addie?" Rod asked, his words a little slurred, turning to look at Neil.

"Drop it, Rod," Neil told him in a warning tone, though Klaus noticed a slight weariness to his voice, as well.

"Why can't I ever get a girl to notice me?" Rod lamented, whining as he flopped face-first down onto the table while holding his cup aloft for Sanjay to fill it once more.

"Because you're a blind idiot," Allen replied, reaching over and flicking his ear. "Otherwise you'd already _have_ a girlfriend."

Rod blew a raspberry in disbelief, and Neil finally turned his head to look at him.

"He's right, Rod. Only an idiot would have _not_ noticed the way Tina has practically been throwing herself at your for better than half a year, now."

"She's just a friend," Rod protested, slapping at his arm with one hand.

"I think she wants to be _much_ more than just a friend," Soseki joined in on the conversation, politely declining Sanjay's offer to refill his glass and instead asking for some water.

"Maybe she's just using me to try to get to Allen," Rod argued, pointing at the hairdresser. "He's always been the popular one. You should see the way girls hang all over him when we go out."

"Is that so?" Soseki mused, a mischievous smile forming on his lips. "Then why doesn't _Allen_ have a girlfriend, I wonder?"

Allen paused whit his drink halfway to his mouth, his gaze pointed downward but his eyes still darting around the table once he realized he had suddenly been put on the spot.

"I'm seeing someone," he said after a moment, probably hoping that alone would be enough to appease them, but it only served to pique the curiosity of those who had – up until that point – remained amused by the conversation but otherwise kept silent.

"So, who is it?" Dunhill asked. "Yuri? Or maybe that cute little Michelle?"

"It's not someone from town," Allen replied, almost immediately realizing his mistake and wincing as he took a large drink from his glass.

"Who is it, then?" Charles asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Someone you knew from when you were living in the city."

"Yes," Allen said, closing his eyes with a heavy sigh. "It's someone I met when I was living in the city."

"Mallory? Or maybe Jessica?" Rod began throwing out names of girls Klaus guessed the two of them knew.

Allen swore under his breath and tossed back the rest of his drink, then slammed the glass down onto the table and stood from his chair. With three quick strides he made his way to where Marian was sitting and grabbed the hair at the back of his head, then jerked his head back and leaned over to kiss him roughly.

"There! Okay?" he shouted once he had pulled away from his lover. "I'm dating Marian."

Klaus and Soseki were both trying to keep themselves from laughing at the looks on the faces of everyone else seated at the table. Most of them were sitting there in shock, while Amir was blushing and Rod was staring at Allen with eyes so wide they looked like they might pop out of their sockets at any given moment. Through it all, Marian was smiling shyly and reached up to take Allen's hand in his own and give it a loving squeeze.

"You're _gay_?" Rod finally asked, breaking the silence which had filled the room.

"Bi, technically," Allen replied with a half-shrug.

"So... So when you kissed me that one time... you weren't really drunk?"

Allen chuckled. "Oh, I was drunk. But I also kind of had a crush on you back then, too."

"You _liked me_?" Rod wondered, his voice squeaking a bit, and he covered his mouth with one hand.

"A bit, but you've always been my best friend," Allen said, releasing Marian's hand and going back over to his seat next to Rod. "After I snuck that kiss, I realized I didn't want to jeopardize that so I let it go."

Rod just continued staring at him with wide eyes, blushing.

"Hey, this doesn't change things between us, okay?" Allen assured him. "We're still gonna go out, and I'm still going to be your wingman while you try and fail to pick up girls. At least until you finally get a clue and ask Tina out."

Rod nodded mutely, and Dunhill chuckled. "Well, I'm happy for ya, Allen. I don't know much about Marian here, but he seems like a nice fellow."

"Such a sweetheart," Marian fawned over Dunhill. "Thank you."

Dunhill smiled and nodded at him, then turned back to the rest of the table.

"Now, then... Why don't we raise the stakes a bit? Who's up for a friendly wager or two?"

Several hours later, Klaus' pockets were a bit lighter than they'd been when he first arrived at Amir's mansion but his spirit felt lighter, as well. He was happy for Marian, who was now sitting on one of the small sofas with Allen, giving the redhead a shoulder rub. Neil was resting on the other sofa while Rod was passed out on the floor, snoring loudly. The town doctor hds retired for the night early, awkwardly leaving not long after Allen had come clean with them all about his relationship with Marian. Charles and Dunhill were still playing cards with Amir and the town's innkeeper, who had been a late arrival and only joined them an hour ago after being sure everyone who was expected to come into town for the wedding had been properly checked in before leaving.

"So, when are _you_ finally going to settle down?"

Klaus turned from the window to Soseki, who had gotten up from the armchair he was sitting in to join him.

"Soon," Klaus replied with a smile.

"That's kind of vague," Soseki teased him, chuckling. "Soon could be next week or two years from now."

"I'm just waiting for it to feel like the right time for us."

"Don't wait _too_ long, Klaus. Life's too short for putting things off. Especially the important things."

Klaus nodded and looked him over a bit. He'd lost a considerable amount of weight since they last saw each other, and the kimono he wore hung off his frame. He remembered back in their youth, when Soseki had been rather well-built and nearly as tough as he'd been, and he found himself filled with sadness. The diagnosis had been sudden and heartbreaking, and in less than a year Soseki had pulled away from everyone who cared about him and practically disappeared off the face of the earth.

"You look good," Klaus finally said after a bit.

"Don't lie," Soseki replied with a short laugh. "I look like shit, especially compared to how I used to be."

"How are you feeling, though?"

Soseki shrugged. "Not any worse, since I left the city and moved out here. No better, either, though."

"I'm glad you've at least started letting people back in again," Klaus remarked, looking back over his shoulder at the others.

"I haven't let any of them get _too_ close, though," Soseki said with a sigh. "I did let someone in, about six years ago. It... didn't end well."

"She left you?"

"I pushed her away," Soseki replied, a sad smile on his face as he looked up at the night sky. "Like I always do."

"Why?" Klaus wondered.

"I loved her, and I couldn't do this to her. I couldn't stand the thought of her being stuck with me, spending half her life playing nursemaid to a dying man."

"But I take it she cared about you, right?"

"She did," Soseki said, nodding. "She wanted me to marry her, in fact. Like I said, though... I didn't want to ruin her life."

"Maybe she would have been perfectly happy playing nursemaid," Klaus offered, hoping that perhaps there was a chance his old friend might be able to reconcile with this woman and find some happiness in the days he had left.

"Maybe, but it's a moot point, now." He turned to Klaus, his smile even sadder than it had been before. "She moved on, found someone else and got married last year. Whatever chance I might have had to rekindle things with her is lost."

"I'm sorry, Soseki," Klaus told him, and Soseki merely reached up and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"I've known for years my time is short, and I've made some pretty stupid mistakes because of it. You have your entire life ahead of you, Klaus, but even that's not a guarantee. Look at what happened to your parents, after all. If you truly love this girl and she loves you... Marry her. Don't wait for it to 'feel right,' or you might end up losing your chance."

He nodded and Soseki smiled at him. Klaus knew he was right. He should stop beating around the bush and just ask Avery to marry him, especially now that all of his secrets were out in the open with her. He'd already told her he intended to do so, but a part of him still wanted to wait to actually propose. Marriage was something he only planned on ever doing once, after all, and he wanted every part of it to be memorable for both of them. Looking at his old friend, though, he realized that things didn't have to be spectacularly planned in order to be memorable.

"How are you to travel?" he asked after a moment's thought.

Soseki chuckled. "I should be fine, as long as I have ample time to arrive at my destination."

"Good," Klaus told him with a smile. "Because I'm really hoping that when Avery and I get married you'll be able to come."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Soseki asked him, grinning and raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Maybe," Klaus said, flashing a grin of his own. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."


	31. Chapter Thirty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! I'm back! Sorry for the lengthy time between updates, but life decided to throw one thing after another at me (including a death in the family and health issues for both myself and my future stepdad) and things are only now getting back to normal around here.
> 
> Hopefully, I will be able to keep to a somewhat regular update schedule from now on. Also, I'm hoping this chapter was worth the wait for all of you who have been reading thus far.
> 
> Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you all the best to come this year!
> 
> Finally, I kept getting myself mixed up with Amir and Sanjay's names when writing this chapter for some reason. I think I found and fixed all the mistakes, but feel free to point out any I may have missed.

Avery fidgeted as she stood inside the large white tent which had been erected at the corner of Echo Village's festival grounds for the bridal party to prepare in. It wasn't even her own wedding, and she was worried something would happen and things wouldn't go off without a hitch. She supposed her unnecessary bout of nerves was being caused by everything Addie had told her the previous night when they had stayed up late talking abut their significant others. After all, she now knew how very lucky her cousin was to be marrying the man she loved and the risk they were taking just by going through with the wedding. She wished nothing but the best for Addie and Amir, but a part of her was extremely grateful that she wouldn't have to go through the same sort of ordeal with Klaus. Though, if his parents were still alive she might have found herself in a somewhat similar situation.

"You look more nervous than my daughter."

Avery turned around and smiled at the man standing behind her. He was almost as tall as Klaus, with dark brown hair sporting a couple of grey patches at the sides and bright blue eyes the same shade as Addie's.

"I'm just worried something will go wrong today," she told him, doing her best to smile in spite of her anxiousness.

"If you're concerned my wife might say something, relax. I told her that she needs to behave herself today, because it's our daughter's wedding and she doesn't need to be causing tension on what's supposed to be a joyous occasion."

Avery sighed. "When has that _ever_ stopped Aunt Sophie from running her mouth? Especially if she's been drinking."

"Well, she hasn't had any yet, so we're all safe until at least the reception," he told her with a small smile. "And I promise to do my best to keep her from making any comments to you then, as well."

"Thanks, Uncle Robert," Avery said with a small smile just as Marian began clapping his hands together and telling everyone to take their places.

Her uncle kissed her on the cheek before going over to where Addie was waiting further inside the tent, and Avery leaned a bit farther outside the tent's opening to look for for Sanjay, who was Amir's best man and should have been there already to escort her. She saw Amir take his place at the head of the crowd with Dunhill, who would be officiating, and music began playing to get the attention of the guests and signal that they should settle down for the ceremony to start.

"Miss Avery, I am so sorry!" Sanjay whispered loudly as he came toward her, walking briskly. "There was a slight problem with Master Amir's attire that I needed to fix before the marriage ceremony took place."

"It's okay, Sanjay," she told him as she stepped out of the tent and took his arm when he offered it to her. She leaned back inside and called to her cousin to wish her luck, then allowed him to escort her to the aisle between where the chairs had been set up for the ceremony.

All eyes turned to look at the two of them, and Avery suddenly became very self-conscious of the way she looked. The dress Addie had selected to be tailored for her was strapless and so long and extravagant that it might as well have been a wedding dress itself. It was made from white satin with a dark blue panel in the back leading down to a short train, and the entire thing had silver thread accents. The choice of colors made sense, seeing the attire Amir was wearing, but she still thought it made her look more like the bride than the maid of honor. She supposed it was okay, though, since Sanjay had traded in his own usual attire for a more formal outfit in the same shade of blue as Amir's wedding clothes and the accent on her dress.

She could feel Klaus looking at her and glanced in his direction. Their eyes met and he gave her the most loving smile she'd ever seen, which she returned shyly before turning her attention ahead once more. Amir was staring past her and Sanjay as they approached, his hands clasped together behind his back in a way which allowed Avery to see his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm which was more rapid than a normal person's breathing – giving away his own nervous state. He looked very handsome in his traditional wedding clothes, the dark blue of the suit and hat matching the color of his eyes, but even as calm as he appeared to be there was still a sense of unease in his expression.

That very same unease disappeared a moment after Avery and Sanjay had taken their places with him at the altar and Addie began walking down the aisle of her father. All of the guests stood to show their respect for the bride, making it hard for Avery to see, but when she finally spotted her cousin through the crowd she could see her smiling and struggling to hold back tears. A look to Amir found him in a similar state, a proud grin on his face as he watched the woman he loved take the final steps of their journey to become husband and wife.

Avery quietly watched the ceremony unfold before her, occasionally looking back over her shoulder to look at Klaus. Instead of watching the happy couple, he appeared to be gazing at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. She vaguely wondered what was on his mind, and made a note to ask him about it later as she returned her attention to her cousin, handing over the ring Addie had picked for Amir when Dunhill requested the couple exchange symbols of their devotion to one another. The two of them said their vows as they placed their rings upon one another's hands, their voices equally choked with emotion, and by the time Dunhill pronounced them husband and wife Avery was crying, as well.

The crowd cheered when they shared their first kiss as a married couple, and as the two of them walked together hand-in-hand toward the exit of the festival grounds Avery was surprised to find Sanjay watching them with tears running down his cheeks.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, and he nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"I have never seen Master Amir so happy," he said quietly. "I hope that perhaps, someday, I am able to find such happiness for myself."

"I'm sure you will," Avery assured him, reaching out to give his arm a gentle squeeze. "I might not know you very well, but I can tell you're a sweet and caring man. Plus, you're quite handsome."

Sanjay let out a small laugh, his cheeks turning a dark red, and thanked her for her kind words just as Avery felt a pair of familiar arms slip around her waist.

"You're not thinking of stealing away my girl, are you?" Klaus asked him in a teasing voice, and Sanjay immediately threw up his hands in front of him and gave Klaus a deep bow, his eyes wide in shock.

"No, of course not!" he said, bowing again. "I would never dream of intruding upon another man's relationship."

"I was joking, Sanjay," Klaus told him. "I know you're an honorable man."

"What are you going to do now that Amir's married?" Avery asked as the three of them began to follow the rest of the crowd, who were all headed to the inn for Addie and Amir's reception.

"Master Amir has requested that I remain in the village for as long as I wish," Sanjay told them, smiling. "I am grateful for that. He truly is my friend, as well as my prince."

"Will you remain living at the mansion?" Klaus wondered. "He said yesterday that he plans to live on the farm with Addie once they return from their honeymoon."

"Yes, I will be living at the mansion, for the time being."

"That's an awful large house for just one person," Avery remarked, and Sanjay stopped walking to look at the two of them.

"Did neither of them tell you?" he asked, looking from her to Klaus and back again.

"Tell us what?" Avery asked, shaking her head.

"Master Amir and Miss Adelia wished for the two of you to stay at the mansion tonight, as a means of thanking you both for being here for the wedding," he informed them.

"Really?" Klaus asked, looking as surprised as Avery felt.

"Yes, I readied the master bedroom for the two of you before attending to Master Amir's wedding preparations."

"I figured _they_ would be spending the night there," Avery said, looking to Klaus briefly before turning back to Sanjay.

"Master Amir wanted to spend the night with Miss Adelia in their marital bed before they leave for the homeland tomorrow," Sanjay explained, blushing. "I am

"Well, we certainly won't turn down the hospitality," Klaus said, "but there's no reason for you to need to worry about waiting on us tonight, Sanjay. Amir is your best friend, so take the time to celebrate with the rest of the town. Avery and I can fend for ourselves just fine."

"He's right," Avery agreed, cutting off any protest Sanjay might have. "Today is a day for celebration, not work. Enjoy yourself with everyone."

"Very well," Sanjay agreed. "However, at least allow me to escort the two of you there once you are ready to leave the reception."

"We will," Klaus told him, and he extended a hand to him. Sanjay looked at it curiously for a moment, then took his hand and shook it. "Thank you."

"Come on," Avery urged, looping an arm through one of each of theirs. "Let's get to the reception."

 

* * *

 

Avery tried so hard to remain happy during the reception, but it was hard for her to do considering the situation. Yes, her cousin had just gotten married and they were sitting in garden area next to the inn – which had been gorgeously decorated by Marian and Allen the night before – and the food being served was some of the best she had ever eaten... but the seating arrangement at their table was less than ideal. She knew Addie had done her best, but all of the family had to be placed together at one table and that meant she was stuck sitting almost directly across from her Aunt Sophie.

"So how is your mother?" she asked, raising her latest glass of champagne and drinking nearly half of it at once. "Still married to that old codger?"

"You mean my father?" Avery shot back, tensing. This was the one thing she'd been dreading about attending Addie's wedding.

"Of course," Sophie said, waving her hand about as she took another drink. "Unless, of course, she's taken up with _another_ cradle-robbing good-for-nothing."

"Sophie," her uncle said in a warning tone, taking the glass away from his wife. "Remember what you promised me this morning."

"I behaved during the wedding, didn't I?" she asked, snatching the glass back from him and refilling it from the bottle of champagne which was sitting conveniently next to her on the table. "I didn't say one damn word about our daughter's decision to marry that... man."

"What do you have against Master Amir?" Sanjay asked, his eyes going wide at the venomous tone coming from the woman seated next to him.

"Don't," her husband warned her, but Sophie waved him off as she drank some more of her champagne before addressing her new son-in-law's faithful servant.

"Your _master_ is a worthless curry-muncher," she slurred. "I don't care if he _is_ a prince. All you people are the same."

"Aunt Sophie!" Avery angrily addressed her, slamming an open palm down on the table. "Stop it! Amir is a wonderful man and Addie loves him."

Sophie scoffed. "I suppose that merits something. At least he's her age, too."

"Sophie, do _not_ do this," her husband warned her.

"Oh, shut up, Robert," Sophie snapped at him. "Someone has to say something about it."

"About what?" Klaus asked, and Avery reached over to place a hand upon his knee. She knew exactly where this conversation was about to go, and she didn't need him letting his temper get the better of him. It was bad enough her aunt was antagonizing half the people at the table. She didn't need him making any more of a scene and totally ruining the day for Addie and Amir.

"That your girlfriend is doing exactly what my sister did," Sophie said, pointing at Avery.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Klaus wondered, his eyes narrowing at the woman.

"My darling little sister decided to throw her life away on a horny old pervert, which she wouldn't have had to do it she'd never gotten herself knocked up," she clarified, looking at Avery like she was scum.

"I don't think she threw her life away," Klaus said, shaking his head. "They seemed very much in love when I met them, and they also both adore Avery."

"I could have overlooked it if she was just fooling around with him," Sophie remarked, refilling her glass once more. "After all, a girl that young would probably want to experience the things an older man can offer – especially in bed. But then she got pregnant, and it tore out family apart."

She cast another pointed look at Avery, and Avery let out a sigh and looked down at her plate. She knew about how her grandparents had disowned her mother after she revealed her elopement and pregnancy to them, but her aunt and uncle had always seemed fine with thing. Then, when Addie decided to leave behind the city and the life her mother had wanted for her in favor of the simpler life she'd heard about from Avery and her parents, Sophie's true colors had come out. She blamed Avery's mother for tearing their family apart and cited Avery for having been a bad influence on Addie since the two girls were as close as sisters.

"Actually, Grandpa tore the family apart," Avery said defiantly, looking at her aunt. "He was so angry at my father that he took it out on Mom."

"Your father was one of his best friends," Sophie replied. "What was he supposed to do? Just... let him be with a girl he was old enough to have fathered, himself?"

"Age has no bearing on love," Klaus said, reaching over to wrap his arm around Avery's shoulders.

"Spoken like a true pedophile," Sophie said with a laugh. "I bet you and her father get along quite well, don't you?"

"Sophie, that is _enough_!" her husband said, standing up and grabbing her by her arm. "I will not have you ruining this day for _anyone_. First you make a racist remark about our new son-in-law, and now you're insulting our niece and her boyfriend."

"I'm only speaking the truth, Robert, and you know it," Sophie replied, standing up and wobbling on her feet.

"No, Sophie," he disagreed with her. "You're letting jealousy and booze speak for you. And I'm done with this. Let's get you back to the room so you can sleep this off, okay?"

"You want me to miss the rest of our daughter's wedding reception?"

"I'm fine with that."

Avery turned around in her chair to find Addie standing behind her with Amir at her side, arms crossed over her chest.

"Adelia, sweetie, you don't mean that," Sophie said, stumbling her way over to her daughter. She attempted to hug her, but Addie took a step back and she nearly lost her balance.

"I never wanted you here in the first place," Addie admitted. "I invited you because I _had_ to."

"You didn't want to invite your own parents to your wedding?" Sophie asked, sounding hurt.

"I wanted Daddy here, but I knew in my heart you would end up causing trouble. Why can't you just be happy for me? And for Avery, for that matter? Daddy's right, isn't he? You're jealous of us – and of Aunt Lila – because the two of you haven't been as happy as we are in a _very_ long time."

"Adelia-"

"Stop," Addie said sternly. "Just stop. Today is my wedding day, and I'm going to enjoy it. _Without you_."

"Come on, Sophie," Addie's father said, going to his wife's side and grasping her arm.

"Daddy, you stay here," Addie requested. "We haven't had our dance, after all. Plus there's cake."

"But your mother..."

"I'll have Hossan escort her back to your room," Addie said, holing out her hand to him. "Now, come on... I believe you have the next dance with the bride."

Her father smiled and took her hand in his, then kissed the back of it and followed her. They made their way toward one of the other tables and Addie said something to the innkeeper, causing him to nod and stand from his chair, then they continued on to the center of the garden for their dance. Hossan soon came over to collect Addie's mother and led her back to the inn, and Avery sighed as she slumped in her seat between Klaus and Sanjay.

"Excuse me, Avery?"

She looked up at Amir, who was still standing at their table, and he smiled and bowed to her.

"I had intended to ask Addie's mother to dance with me, since my own mother was unable to attend the ceremony, but as she is no longer here and you are her closest female relative I was wondering if I might ask you to dance, instead. If that is permissible, of course," he added, turning to Klaus.

"As long as you don't try anything, be my guest," Klaus told him with a wink, and Amir laughed and bowed to him, then held a hand out to Avery.

 

* * *

 

Klaus watched the two of them join Addie and her father out in the center of the garden, a smile lighting up his face. With her aunt gone, the rest of them were free to enjoy the remainder of the reception. The smile fell from his face when he turned back to Sanjay, however. The prince's best man had a sad look in his eyes as he watched the small group dancing and laughing amongst themselves, and Klaus moved over into Avery's vacant chair.

"What's on your mind?"

Sanjay blinked and shifted his focus to him, shaking his head.

"It is nothing, Master Klaus. I was merely thinking."

"About what?" Klaus prompted.

"I... have never had a family. Not a real one. I grew up in an orphanage until Master Amir's parents took me in."

"Well, as you just saw, family isn't always the great thing people expect it to be," Klaus said, reaching across the table to grab the bottle of champagne Sophie had been keeping to herself. There wasn't much left, but he poured himself a glass anyway.

"I know families have their differences," Sanajy said with a nod. "But I am sure that even then, most of them are still quite loving. Master Amir and Miss Adelia, for instance, are sure to have a very warm family some day – as I am sure you and Miss Avery will, as well."

"I'm sure of that, too," Klaus said with a smile after taking a sip of his champagne. "And so will you, someday. But keep in mind, Sanjay, that family is much more than just blood. There's a man who helped me out when I was younger and he's practically a father to me. In the same vein, I'm sure you and Amir are as close as brothers."

"We are close friends, yes," Sanjay agreed with a small smile, nodding.

"There you go, then," Klaus told him, patting his shoulder. "Now, um... if you'll excuse me for a moment, there's something I need to do."

"Of course," Sanjay replied, nodding again. "Please, do not feel you need to remain at the table on my account."

"I'll be back in a few minutes, in case they return before I do," Klaus said, then stood and looked toward the dance floor. Avery and Addie had switched partners, and now Avery was dancing with her uncle while Addie and Amir were slowly swaying together to the music.

Smiling to himself, he sought out the tables the town's residents were sitting at and went to the one where the owner of the general store and her husband were seated.

"Excuse my interruption," he said, kneeling next to the chair the elderly woman was sitting in. "I had heard you're the lovely young lady who owns the store in town and I was hoping you might be able to help me with something."

The woman giggled and slapped at him playfully. "Oh, dear! Such a flaterer. I must warn you, though, I'm already spoken for."

"That's my terrible loss, then," Klaus replied, winking at her and making her laugh again.

"So what is it you need, dearie?" she asked him, and Klaus looked over to Avery once more, a warm smile forming on his face as he watched her.

"I was hoping you might open up your shop for me, just for a minute," he said, turning back to the elderly woman before him.

"Whatever for?" she questioned, though with the way she was smiling he knew she wasn't going to refuse him.

"I need to make a special purchase."


	32. Chapter Thirty-One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is VERY NSFW... and is the one probably a lot of you have been waiting for. Enjoy!

Avery and Klaus departed from the reception shortly after the customary bouquet and garter toss. Marian, having the advantage of towering over the other hopeful brides in his heels, easily snatched the bouquet while Allen had begrudgingly gotten the garter and promptly blushed as red as his hair as he and Marian danced together before all of the townspeople. Addie and Amir made their exit shortly after – though everyone else was quite happy to continue with the celebration in spite of their absence – and Avery and Klaus had stayed only a few minutes longer in order to say good night to her uncle, Marian, Allen, and for Klaus to introduce her to Soseki. His old friend had turned on the charm when greeting her for the first time, and gave Klaus a wink behind her back when they left – no doubt recalling what Klaus had mentioned during their conversation the previous night.

Sanjay graciously escorted them to Amir's mansion despite their protests that the large house was easily visible from the garden area where the reception was taking place, and he even offered to stay in case they would need anything. Klaus told him it would not be necessary and insisted he return to the party, but his training as Amir's personal servant wouldn't allow him to do so until he had taken him to the master bedroom and made sure things were to their liking.

"Wow," Avery gasped once Sanjay had opened the double doors of the room and stepped aside to allow them to enter. Klaus had seen many opulent bedrooms before, but even he couldn't help feeling a little breathtaken at the sight. The room was large and open, with a king sized bed situated nearly in the center. The bed was draped with a canopy of sheer white fabric which matched the pristine silk sheets that were trimmed in a deep, sea blue color. Large vases full of white flowers were scattered about, filling the room with the heady scent of orchids, roses, and jasmine. Instead of traditional lighting, the room was aglow in the the warm light of several candle lamps. The whole setup seemed a little too perfect to be the usual standard, even for a prince, and Klaus gave Sanjay a suspicious look.

"I take it things are to your liking, then?" Sanjay asked, a knowing smile on his face, and Avery turned around to look at him with a smile lighting up her face.

"It's wonderful, thank you," she told him, then went back to admiring her surroundings. Klaus also thanked Sanjay for everything, then assured him they would be fine without further assistance, and Sanjay left the two of them alone.

"I still can't believe they're not taking advantage of this," Avery said once the doors had closed behind Sanjay, twirling around a bit and giggling. "I feel like a princess in this room."

"You _look_ like one, too," Klaus told her, his eyes roaming the length of her body for at least the tenth time that day. Her dress had been expertly-tailored and flattered every curve of her figure, and the skirt flared out just enough to make it look like she was floating as she walked. Her hair was piled atop her head in an intricate updo, showing off the length of her neck and her bare shoulders, and Allen had even worked in several rhinestones which caused her to sparkle under the soft candlelight that filled the room.

"I have to wonder," he added as he removed his jacket and placed it over a chair near the door, "why are _you_ the one who's so dressed up. Isn't this supposed to be Addie's special day?"

In contrast to Avery, Addie had been very plainly dressed in a simple white gown and veil without much adornment aside from the flowers lining the band of her veil. She didn't even have any blue in her gown to tie her outfit to Amir's, despite Avery having a deep blue train on her dress.

"I think that was the point," Avery said as she stopped spinning and began wandering toward the vanity against the far wall. "She wanted people to be focused on me, rather than her."

"Why would any bride not want to be the center of attention on her own wedding day?" Klaus asked, sitting at the table and removing his boots as he continued to watch her every move.

"It's a long story," Avery said with a sigh, reaching up to take the rhinestones and pins out of her hair as she spoke. "Things didn't go too well when she went with Amir to visit his homeland earlier this season. She received a lot of attention while she was there, and little of it was positive."

"All the more reason she should have wanted to get the attention today would have given her."

"She just wanted to focus on Amir, today," Avery told him, letting out another sigh when her hair finally fell back down around her shoulders.

"Well, I have to say you looked absolutely beautiful," Klaus said, standing and crossing the room to stand behind her.

"Thank you," Avery replied, looking up at him before turning to the mirror over the vanity table once more. "Think you could do me a favor, though?"

"Anything."

"Check my hair for me? Allen used so many pins I lost count. I think I got them all, but a second look can't hurt."

Klaus chuckled and reached up to run his fingers through her long, thick hair, searching for any hair pins she missed. Finding none, he buried his hands into her soft, golden tresses and began massaging her scalp, knowing it would probably feel good after having her hair pulled into the intricate style she'd been wearing all day. His reward was a small moan, and he smiled at her as she leaned her head back slightly toward him, her eyes sliding closed. After a moment he leaned down and kissed her gently, keeping one of his hands tangled in her hair while he pulled the other free in order to wrap his arm around her waist and hold her close. Avery sighed happily into his mouth as he deepened the kiss, her hand resting upon his arm, and Klaus soon broke the kiss in order to trail his lips long the line of her jaw and to the side of her neck.

He knew this was what Addie – and possibly Amir, considering they were in his home – had been planning to happen. Normally, he wouldn't have taken kindly to being manipulated by someone... but, in this case, he didn't really mind. In fact, he was secretly a bit grateful to Avery's cousin for having given them the perfect setting for what he hoped would be a very special night for both of them.

"Avery," he said her name between the kisses he continued placing just over her throbbing pulse.

"Hm?" she muttered, her hand moving from his arm and up into his hair, encouraging him to continue.

"I want to make love to you tonight," he whispered into her ear, and she slowly turned her head to look at him. There was no fear in her gaze, only love and the sort of lust that came along with it. She said nothing in reply, at first, and merely pulled him closer to kiss him once more, teasing him with her tongue until he could stand it no longer and claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss of his own.

"Make love to me, Klaus," she whispered breathlessly once they parted a minute later, a shyness in her voice which made him want to just keep kissing her over and over as he whispered sweet words of reassurance and encouragement to her. He knew she was nervous, but he was perhaps just as anxious as she was. He wanted nothing more than to make this night special for her – for both of them.

He softly kissed her lips before returning his attention to the slope of her neck, placing feather-light kisses there meant to arouse her as he worked open the hooks along her spine which were holding her dress closed. Once he reached the final one, he slid a hand up the skin of her exposed back and deftly unhooked the clasp of the locket he had given her for her birthday, then managed to catch it and placed it on the vanity table in front of her. Moving to stand behind her, he placed his hands at her hips and carefully pulled the dress down her body, exposing her inch by tantalizing inch to his heated gaze.

"You're so beautiful, Avery," he said as he stared at her reflection in the mirror. "I'm the luckiest man alive."

"I think Amir would disagree with you on that," she told him, attempting to ease her nerves with the lighthearted comment.

Klaus smiled a little and kissed her shoulder, then turned her around to face him.

"We don't have to do this, if you don't want to," he said, running his fingers through her hair. Avery sighed and rested her hands against his chest, then raised up on her toes to kiss him as she began unbuttoning his shirt.

"I want this, Klaus," she assured him, pulling his shirt off over his shoulders as she gazed into his eyes. "I want _you_."

Klaus took his shirt off the rest of the way and let it fall to the floor, then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body against his as she stepped into his embrace. He let out a quiet groan at the feeling of her bare breasts pressed against his chest and leaned down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss, which Avery returned as she whimpered in the back of her throat. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers into his dark hair, and raised up on her toes once more to press herself more firmly against him, and Klaus dipped his hands down into the back of the white, lacy panties she had been wearing under her dress. Firmly gripping her backside, he pressed his hips against hers, allowing her to feel how aroused he already was and causing her to let out a sound between a whimper and a moan.

Klaus broke the kiss and bent down slightly to hook one of his arms behind Avery's knees, then lifted her up into his arms. She giggled as he picked her up, but the laughter died when the momentum caused one of her shoes to fly off her foot and into the opposite wall. The two of them looked in the direction it had gone for a moment, then they both burst out laughing, and Klaus kissed her briefly before carrying her to the bed.

"Well, so much for being the perfect, debonair lover," he remarked as he set her down upon the bed, giving her a wink.

"At least it didn't break one of those rather expensive-looking vases," she replied, grasping the back of his neck and pulling him into another kiss before he had a chance to move away from her.

Klaus returned her kiss briefly, then reluctantly pulled away to stand at the side of the bed. Avery sat up on her knees and pulled him into another kiss, and Klaus let out a deep chuckle in the back of his throat as he returned it, his hands sliding across her bare back before coming to rest at her hips. Avery's hands, meanwhile, followed their own trail down his chest and abdomen until they came to rest at the front of his trousers. He felt her start to tug at his belt as she attempted to undo the buckle, her hands fumbling a little, and he broke the kiss and took her hands in his. Feeling them trembling slightly, he brought them to his lips and smiled at her before kissing them.

"I can do that, love," he told her, releasing her hands. "Why don't you just relax?"

"Okay," Avery said, nodding, and moved closer to the center to the bed before laying down on her side with her head propped up in one hand.

Seeing her resting like that on the bed, nearly naked, nearly made Klaus lose all composure. A deep, primal part of him wanted to strip down quickly and remove that last bit of clothing from her body in order to join with her as soon as possible, but instead he took his time and undressed until he was in a similar state as her before joining her on the bed.

"I love you, Avery," he told her, and gently tucked some of her hair behind her ear before tracing the line of her face with his finger.

"I love you, too, Klaus," she replied as he continued the trail down over her shoulder and along her arm. Once he reached her hand, he took it and guided it to the noticeable bulge in the front of his dark, satiny boxers.

"Touch me," he requested in a husky whisper as he inched closer to her, his lips hovering just over hers for a brief moment before he finally kissed her once more.

Avery kissed him back for several seconds before she began to slowly stroke him through the soft material, and Klaus groaned in approval, reaching between her legs with one hand to return the favor. She whimpered softly as soon as his fingers made contact, and he couldn't help groaning again when he felt the considerable dampness that was already soaking through her panties.

She soon removed her hand from him, but to his surprise she then began to tug as his boxers, attempting to remove them. Klaus shifted a bit, without breaking their kiss, and assisted her in removing the last of his clothing. Once he'd finally kicked that final article aside, Avery broke the kiss in order to take in the sight of him, fully naked, for the first time. Klaus moved his hand from between her legs to one of her breasts and began to gently knead it as he silently watched her, not wanting to push her too far too fast. Then, after several long seconds, she touched him again.

Klaus let out a loud moan as he felt her long fingers, slightly calloused from her time working on the farm, wrap around his length, and then she began to tentatively stroke him. It wasn't the first time she had touched him like that, but it was the first time she'd even been able to see the results of her actions. He let her continue to touch him for a while longer before grasping her wrist and stilling her hand, and she blinked in confusion as she looked at him, and Klaus kissed her and slowly rolled her over onto her back, settling himself between her legs.

He took his time with her, knowing these last steps would be the most important in making her comfortable for what was about to happen. Whispering sweet nothings to her, he began to kiss her neck as he moved against her until she started to grind back against him, then he trailed his kisses lower. He paid attention to each of her breasts, causing her to moan and arch her back, then continued down her body until he reached the delicate lace panties. Pausing, he looked up at her and kissed her just below her navel, then he slowly slid them down her legs – leaving her completely bare before him.

"Have I ever told you how exquisitely beautiful you are?" he asked as he ran his hands up her legs, catching the backs of her thighs.

"That was your third time tonight, actually," Avery told him, and she blushed as he eased her legs farther apart.

Klaus' eyes held hers as he lowered his head between her legs in order to pleasure her, his tongue languidly tracing the folds of her womanhood before dipping between them to tease her. Avery closed her eyes and moaned deeply, arching her back, and he groaned at the sight of her. No longer was she the shy, blushing girl he'd first noticed in the market square. She was a woman who had gradually become comfortable with her body and her sexuality, thanks to him. A part of him was disgusted with the pride he felt in that, but a larger part of him felt blessed. She loved him, trusted him, and found him worthy enough to share herself with him in the most intimate of ways.

"Klaus, please," she begged, one of her hands tangling in his hair, and Klaus reluctantly pulled away from her. He wanted to bring her to the point of ecstasy, but he had other things in mind, first.

"Soon, love," he promised her, kissing her stomach and slipping a finger inside her. Avery writhed a bit under him as he stroked her, slowly licking a trail back up her body until he was able to kiss her.

This time, he slowly coaxed her into a deep, loving kiss. Their tongues mingled in her mouth in time to his touch, and he added a second finger to further prepare her for what was about to come. His fingers curled slightly inside her as he sought the spot he knew would give her the most pleasure, and when she broke the kiss to throw her head back with a deep moan, exposing her neck to him, he knew he had found it. He kissed her neck, nibbling and sucking upon her skin until he'd marked her just as he had on their first date, working her into a frenzy with his touch. Then, without warning, he withdrew his fingers from her and slowly eased his hardened length into her.

"Klaus," Avery gasped, and he raised himself up to look down at her as he continued to enter her for the first time, watching her face for any signs of pain. She bit her lip and gave a small whimper, but otherwise seemed fine.

"Are you okay, love?" he asked once he was fully inside her, and she nodded and reached up to wrap her arms around him.

"I love you so much, Klaus," she told him, leaning up to him, and Klaus met her halfway and kissed her softly.

"I love you, too, Avery," he told her before kissing her again.

He gave her a few more seconds to adjust to the feeling of him being inside her, then carefully began to move. He went slowly, as much to savor the feel of her as to gradually build the pleasure for them both, continuing to kiss her as he did so. Soon, he felt her begin to move beneath him, her hips rocking against his in time to his gentle thrusts, and she moaned softly and kissed him more firmly. Klaus groaned deeply and increased the speed and intensity of his movements, and soon they were moving together in the passionate act of lovemaking he had been dreaming about for more than a year.

The two of them lost themselves in each other completely, moving as one upon the large bed. Klaus moved his lips to her neck in order to allow her moans of pleasure to fill his ears, responding to each one with a deep groan amongst softly gasped words of love and adoration. He'd been with so many other women before, but none of them had felt as perfect as this. Avery was his match, his love, his soul mate... and he never wanted to let her go.

"Klaus... Oh, Goddess..." Avery cried out, and he knew she was getting close to achieving her orgasm. He was fast nearing his release, as well, and raised himself up once again to look down at her as he took her a bit harder, desperately wanting to see the look on her face as she came undone for him.

"Avery... my love," he said in a husky whisper, and she opened her eyes half way to look up at him. Their eyes met and Klaus groaned loudly, shifting his position in an attempt to press against that special spot inside her. He knew he had hit his mark when she gasped sharply and her eyes fluttered closed as she practically arched off the bed, and he continued to move just so in order to give her that final push she needed.

"Klaus!"

His name came out as a strangled cry from Avery's lips, and her back arched fully off the bed. Klaus slipped one of his arms under her and held her body close to his own as she trembled in his arms, and soon a second cry fell from her lips as she finally reached her peak. Klaus let out a low growl and kissed her hard, giving a few more powerful thrusts into her.

"Avery..." her name came out barely more than a whisper, and he arched his own back slightly as he found his release, groaning in satisfaction.

Breathing heavily, he looked down at her and found her gasping just as hard as he was, her sweat-slicked skin shimmering in the candlelight. A slow smile formed on his lips, and he leaned down to kiss her softly, brushing his fingers through her damp hair and pushing it away from her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, wanting to be sure he hadn't hurt her when he lost control.

"I'm... yes..." she gasped quietly, then let out a small laugh. "That was... wow."

Klaus chuckled and kissed her, then moved to rest next to her on the bed, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he caught his breath.

"Was it good for you?" Avery asked, sounding shy. Klaus laughed a little and turned his head to look at her, then leaned over and kissed her deeply for several long seconds.

"It was perfect, love," he assured her. " _You_ are perfect. I've never felt that way making love to anyone before."

"Liar," she muttered, blushing and running her hand over his chest.

"It's true," Klaus said, grasping her hand and raising it up to kiss the inside of her wrist. "You felt incredible, and the way you just gave yourself over to the pleasure..."

He groaned and kissed her again, and Avery whimpered and moved a little closer to him until their bodies were touching once more.

"It was hard _not_ to give myself over to the things you were making me feel, Klaus," she told him. "Not just the physical, but... Well... I'm not sure how to explain it."

"I understand," he replied, running his fingers through her hair. "I felt it, too. It was deeper than any other experience I have ever had with a woman."

"It was?" she wondered, meeting his eyes.

"Yes," he said, gazing at her with a loving smile. "I love you, Avery. More than I ever knew I could love someone. Tonight... what just happened... it was the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me."

"I love you, too, Klaus," she told him with tears in her eyes.

"Why are you crying, love?" he asked, and she shook hr head.

"I'm just so incredibly happy," she said, then kissed him briefly. "You're a wonderful man, Klaus, and I'm lucky to have found you."

" _I'm_ the lucky one, Avery," he corrected her. "It's not every day an old man with a checkered past like me turns the head of a talented, caring, beautiful young woman."

"Stop it," she muttered, snuggling up against him and resting her head on his chest to hide her blush. Klaus smiled and wrapped his arms around her, then kissed the top of her head and let out a content sigh.

"Klaus?" Avery said his name after a couple of minutes, sounding a bit unsure.

"Yes, love?" he replied, angling his head a bit to look down at her.

"Can we do that again?" she asked, sitting up slightly to look at him, biting her lip shyly.

Klaus chuckled and sat up to kiss her.

"Of course we can," he told her, then kissed her again. "As much as you want."


End file.
